![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/0-620x409.jpg?resize=620%2C409\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Nintendo abruptly broke its silence today regarding the next core entries in its popular Pokemon <\/em>franchise. The next original role-playing games in the series are now officially known as Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0Sword <\/em>and Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0Shield<\/em>, and will release exclusively for the Nintendo Switch towards the end of 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, a new Pokemon journey will begin for all of you,\u201d said Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokemon Co., introducing the new games.<\/p>\n This marks the first original Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> release on the Switch, as last year\u2019s Let\u2019s Go, Pikachu! <\/em>and Let\u2019s Go, Eevee! <\/em>were enhanced remakes of earlier titles for the Game Boy. Sword <\/em>and Shield <\/em>were initially announced for the Switch at E3 2017, but no further information had been released on the subject until today\u2019s early-morning livestreamed conference.<\/p>\n Sword <\/em>and Shield, <\/em>according to producer Junichi Masuda, are \u201cnew entries in the Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0<\/em>series, that will get any player fired up and excited.\u201d They\u2019re set in the previously-unexplored Galar region of the Pok\u00e9mon world<\/a>, which is inhabited by Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0both new and old, who work together with the local humans to develop the region\u2019s industry.<\/p>\n You play as a young novice trainer, heading out into the world to explore, find new Pokemon, and battle other trainers. You\u2019ll be initially aided in this by one of three brand-new starter Pokemon: Grookey the chimpanzee, Scorbunny the rabbit, or Sobble, a timid water lizard. As always, you can pursue and capture Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> in the wild to expand your team and widen your options, until you work your way up to a team that you can use to defeat your rivals and attain the title of Champion.<\/p>\n Traditionally with paired Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>games like Sword <\/em>and Shield<\/em>, the primary difference between them has been that a certain number of Pok\u00e9mon are only available in one game or the other. You still get a full game either way, but if you decide you want to get 100 percent completion and complete your Pokedex<\/a>, you\u2019ll want to trade your collected Pok\u00e9mon like baseball cards with friends who are playing the other version of the current entry.<\/p>\n Sword <\/em>and Shield <\/em>are directed by long-time franchise veteran Shigeru Ohmori<\/a>, who has worked on various Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>games as a producer, designer, and\/or director since 2002\u2019s Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u00a0Ruby & Sapphire<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>series has been a tentpole franchise for Nintendo since 1996\u2019s Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u00a0Red <\/em>and Blue <\/em>for the original Game Boy. Initially developed by Game Freak CEO Satoshi Tajiri, who based the original game off of his childhood hobby of collecting insects, the various games in the Pok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>series have sold well over 300 million units worldwide, and led to a franchise that includes toys, a collectible card game, and multiple cartoons.<\/p>\n Core entries in the Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> franchise are developed by the Japanese company Game Freak, and are published and marketed worldwide by The Pok\u00e9mon Co., a joint venture between Nintendo, Game Freak, and the Creatures studio. Pokemon Co.\u2019s U.S. operations are in Bellevue, Wash. While almost all Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> games are exclusively found on Nintendo hardware, Game Freak is an independent company, and has occasionally developed games for other platforms such as 2015\u2019s Tenbo<\/em> the Badass Elephant<\/em>.<\/p>\n Redmond-based Nintendo of America, which oversees the Japanese game maker\u2019s North American operations, last week announced the upcoming retirement of its longtime president and chief operating officer<\/a>, Reggie Fils-Aim\u00e9, who will be succeeded by longtime Nintendo executive Doug Bowser.<\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nintendo abruptly broke its silence today regarding the next core entries in its popular Pokemon franchise. The next original role-playing games in the series are now officially known as Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0Sword and Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0Shield, and will release exclusively for the Nintendo Switch towards the end of 2019. \u201cThis year, a new Pokemon journey will begin for all… Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":60707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games-media","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n