Hot off the heels of the most recent, full-size Nintendo Direct just 10 days ago now comes one dedicated to a hot property many were expecting to see fully exposed during the aforementioned live-streaming news event. Sorry Animal Crossing fans — I’m sure you’ll get your turn in the next one. That only leaves Pokémon’s long-teased 8th generation game of course!
It seems fitting, doesn’t it? February 27, 1996 — that was the day that both Pokemon Red and Blue were released for the original Game Boy in Japan. The anniversary has come to been christened “Pokemon Day,” and I can’t think of a better time than this to showcase the future of the beloved franchise.
Having received just a small taste of some next-gen Pokemon action with the Nintendo Switch re-releases of the classic Red, Blue and Yellow games known as Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, fans have been dying to know what the next generational step in the series will come to be. Of course, we can count on the series’ first brand-new games on a home console to take full advantage of the extra boost in power for some breathtaking 3D, but what of new networking features? The size and locale of the world? Use of the Pokeball Plus and connection to smartphone sensation Pokemon Go? “And just wait a second, Mike. How can you even be so sure the 8th generation games even will be announced tomorrow? Mystery Dungeon still exists and I’m sure a new Detective Pikachu trailer could eat up at least 3 minutes of runtime!”
These are all the details you’re getting…until tomorrow. 😉
Set your alarms, Trainers—you don’t want to miss this Pokémon Day! ⏰ #PokemonDirect pic.twitter.com/SvMFzfsM5m
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) February 26, 2019
There’s no way that the positioning of three Pokeballs in the announcement tweet indicates anything other than three brand-new starters. A new Detective Pikachu trailer would be an immensely welcomed bonus, though! (Editor’s Note: It was.)
The Pokemon Direct is scheduled to stream live on Pokemon Day, February 27, 2019. That’s tomorrow for most of you reading this. Check out our little breakdown of the major timezones around the globe, and get ready to fire-up those Pokedexes once again!
- US Pacific Time: 6:00 am
- US East Coast Time: 9:00 am
- London Time: 2:00 pm
- Tokyo Time: 11:00 pm
- Sydney Time: 1:00 am on the 28th