New Pokemon Game In The Works

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced recently that a new Pokemon title for the Wii is under development.  IGN has published a very interesting article on what the editors want from the new Pokemon Wii game, and their predictions for what the game will turn out to be.  Considered are a new Pokemon Snap, new Pokemon Stadium, a Pokemon MMO, a 3D free-roaming Pokemon adventure, and "something completely out of left field", meaning a new take on the franchise.

That can be found here: http://wii.ign.com/articles/114/1148672p1.html

Let's consider the information we have so far:

Pokemon director Junichi Masuda has stated that a Pokemon MMORPG is not the direction he wants to take the series in.  He says, "At this point, we're not thinking of going in that direction. Trading is a core concept of Pokémon. So when you're trading, you meet with a friend and decide which one you want and which one they want. I would like to emphasize real-world communication. You don't see each other online."

Source: http://www.whattheyplay.com/blog/2009/03/20/no-pokemon-mmo-or-online-game-coming-say-creators/ 

Until recently, there was a successful online Pokemon game made by fans called Pokenet; it was an online community in which one could catch and battle with Pokemon (essentially like the retail games, but with other people).  Nintendo shut that down months ago.


Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/02/nintendo-shuts-down-fan-made-pokemon-mmo/

This was all recently, so it's highly unlikely that Masuda would simply ignore his own words and produce a Pokemon MMO.  That being said, there's a good chance the new game will simply be the Wii version of Pokemon Stadium... in my opinion, that's what it will be.  Following every new generation of hand-held Pokemon games is a new console title; after Red & Blue it was Pokemon Stadium, after Gold & Silver it was Pokemon Stadium 2, after Ruby & Sapphire it was Pokemon Colosseum, after Diamond & Pearl it was Pokemon Battle Revolution, and after Black & White it will be something along the same lines.


I am still wishfully hoping for a true console Pokemon game, however.  IGN had this picture in their article:

Fabricated from pure imagination, it's pretty damn close to how I want my 3D open-world console Pokemon adventure... if we ever get one.