Pokemon fans have had plenty to keep them busy on handhelds and consoles alike lately. In just the last two years, fans received four major entries into the series with Pokemon X and Y, Omega Ruby and Sapphire, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates To Infinity on the Nintendo 3DS and Pokemon Rumble U on the Nintendo Wii U.
Since then, Pokemon fans have been left with almost nothing to look forward to in 2015 and beyond except for an unnamed, mysterious Pokemon project. While Tetsuya Watanabe of Game Freak claims that the team has been getting ready to announce a new Pokemon title, Australia's Classification Board may have beaten them to the punch.
The Australian Classification Board is notorious for inadvertently revealing upcoming games that haven't been officially announced yet, and Game Freak is no exception to the rule. Pokemon Rumble World appeared on Australia's Classification Board website on March 17th, which has granted it a PG rating. It's also noted to contain mild violence and an online interactivity feature, but doesn't give much of a clue as to what else to expect from the title.
Pokemon Rumble World is likely to be the fourth game in the Pokemon Rumble series, following the Pokemon Rumble Wii U title of 2013. Pokemon Rumble Wii U was the first game to use the NFC reader on the Wii U gamepad, where players could use Pokemon figurines to upload into the game and fight with. Whether this game is the title Watanabe hinted at or not is unknown, as Nintendo declined to comment one way or another.
The timing of this classification is interesting, as it's popping up at the same time as Nintendo's announcement that it's developing a new piece of hardware, the Nintendo NX, as well as partnering with DeNA to make mobile games for cellphones. The Nintendo NX may play a part in fighting with other players, or uploading Pokemon to use in your fights. Nintendo may also consider skipping physical figurines entirely and instead may opt to let gamers pay to to play as a specific Pokemon on their mobile phones. This feature could help to make the game more enjoyable to players all over the world, as the NFC figures in Pokemon Rumble U were only available in Japan.
Watanabe also noted that Game Freak is looking to speed up its game release cycle to just 1 year, reducing the time between game releases. While this may be beneficial to Game Freak and Nintendo from a profit standpoint, it may leave some gamers feeling sour that a Pokemon Rumble sequel is being announced just two years after the last title.
Are you eager to get your hands on Pokemon Rumble World, or do you feel that the Pokemon remakes and sequels are coming too quickly?
Source: IGN, Australia Classification Board