Pre-E3 Rumors Starting to Circulate

Everyone’s talking about Fox McCloud and a return to Kanto!

By Marc Deschamps. Posted 05/15/2018 08:25 Comment on this     ShareThis

Dynamic Generic Star Fox Command masthead

Next month, E3 will give gamers around the world a look at the biggest games heading to PS4, Xbox One and, of course, Nintendo Switch. As happens every year around this time, rumors have begun to circulate about exactly what fans can expect to see from Nintendo’s presentation. Unsurprisingly, two of the company’s bigger IPs are rumored to have new games that will be unveiled, one in the Pokémon franchise and the other being a brand-new Star Fox title. While both rumors have come from largely reputable sources, it’s important to take both with a major grain of salt.

First up is Pokémon. According to rumors, rather than a fully new Pokémon generation, the first Pokémon RPG on Switch will actually be a modern day remake of Pokémon Yellow titled Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu. The game will supposedly bring back Pokémon that follow the player around, as well as the ride Pokémon that essentially replaced HMs in Pokémon Sun and Moon. Interestingly enough, the rumor also suggests that the game will have some compatibility with Pokémon Go. This rumor has been bolstered by Emily Rogers, who has a strong track record for this sort of thing, as well as the Pokémon website Serebii.net.

The second major rumor alleges that the next project from Retro Studios is Star Fox Grand Prix, a racing game in the vein of Diddy Kong Racing. While the gameplay is rumored to resemble F-Zero, the title will supposedly feature boss fights and a hub world. The rumor started making waves a few days ago, initially on Reddit, but eventually making way to more credible sources, including Eurogamer, who claims they’ve heard similar murmurs.

With both of these rumors, there are a handful of outside factors that lend them some credence outside their sources. Supposedly, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were once considered for Switch before a choice was made to keep them on 3DS. According to those rumors, Nintendo wanted a more significant debut for the mainline franchise than simply a third version of a game released a year prior. As such, a game that takes place in the region fans are most familiar with would make the most sense, from a nostalgia standpoint. Incorporating Pokémon Go, which remains hugely popular, could also help the company sell a lot more Switch units, as well.

The logic behind Star Fox Grand Prix also has similarly sound reasoning. Depending on who you talk to, Star Fox Zero was slightly disappointing at best or unplayable at worst. Since Star Fox 64, Nintendo has struggled to find exactly what to do with the IP, and it would make perfect sense to give it to a developer that has now reinvigorated two major franchises for the company.

Of course, many of these rumors could be too convenient. Many people have guessed that Pokémon Go compatibility would be added to the main series of games ever since the app first exploded on to smartphones. If someone wanted to create a new Pokémon rumor, that wouldn’t be a bad place to start. As for Star Fox, it’s one of the few remaining major IPs that Retro could conceivably be handed (Mario, Zelda and Pokémon are likely all out of the question). Unless the team has been working on a new IP or something long untouched like Eternal Darkness or Kid Icarus, it wouldn’t be a bad guess!

As E3 inches ever closer, we’ll of course have more information on both of these rumors, as well as any official announcements. In the meantime, let us know what you think in the comments below!

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