Nintendo Has No Excuse Not to Bring This Beloved Franchise to the Wii U

Back in 2006 when the Nintendo Wii was released, all sorts of possibilities were unleashed upon the gaming world. Many kinds of movements and hand motions made our favorite gaming franchises come alive and interact with us in a whole new way. One of these well-known franchises that should have shown its face never came to pass. This article is about the gaming franchise that should have popped up back then and what Nintendo can and should do with this popular series for their new home console.

Remember the craze about a certain yellow electric mouse named Pikachu and his youngfearless trainer Ash who set out into the world to become a Pokémon master? This game, when released late 1998 in North America, became one of Nintendo’s biggest and most beloved IP. Since that release, many Pokémon video games, toys, cartoons, and apparel have been sold to diehard fans all over the world. I was one of those fans; however, as much as I enjoyed the series year after year, I wanted just a little something different than a search and rescue, a battle royale, or even Pokémon photography. What I wanted to see was sandbox meeting tradition.

Just think, if Nintendo decided to make a full, open world Pokémon game on the Wii, you would see yourself exploring a 3-dimensional world where you could catch, compete, and collect Pokémon to become a Pokémon master. You would use the Wii remote and nunchuk in a new and interesting way. You could use the Wii remote to send out your Pokémon and battle wild Pokémon and trainers and use the nunchuck to send out a pokéball to capture a weakened Pokémon. Just imagine the endless possibilities with this type of game on the Wii system. Alas, Nintendo did not grant us this magical world on the WII. This is where Nintendo has a chance to make the Pokémon series that much sweeter. 

With the Wii U console, Nintendo has many different options and ideas that will demonstrate what franchises should helm the Nintendo forefront. This is where the idea for a full open world Pokémon game would make the toughest fan boy work up a grin. Imagine what was recently stated in the previous paragraph about a Wii Pokémon game. Then, add a tablet, or for some, the pokédex. I can just see it now. As you are walking in the woods, you see a beedrill. You slowly raise the tablet to the screen and you hear, “Beedrill, the stinging bee Pokémon, has very poisonous stingers and usually travels in swarms.” You get information about the Pokémon in question, and then after that, you can decide if you would like to capture it or not based on the information.

Another more likely scenario is if there was to be such a game that had you capture and train various Pokémon. Wouldn’t it be fun to battle other players online? Like the stadium, coliseum, and battle games before, you could incorporate these previous designs with a fully fledged Pokémon RPG which has the likes of no other. Surely Nintendo has thought of this before but there is no better time and console to which they should bring this franchise.

Nintendo has always been a conservative and creative company. With all these bold steps towards the new system, I believe they have stepped out of the box and will develop new and revamped series for their newest console. Why not take a chance on a well-loved series and make the Nintendo Wii U the perfect host to demonstrate their creativity and love of games. So I ask Nintendo why can’t I “Catch’em all,” in a whole new way?

Written by: Shane Kelley (@stillsaneshane)