So, a very interesting piece of information has just popped up on the "Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market" (the EU's trademark office) for two new Pokémon games: Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. (You'll have to search that website for "Pokémon Sun" or "Pokémon Moon" to find them; we can't link directly.)
Normally, we'd dismiss this as a pretty good hoax, but there's quite a few things that legitimise this: Firstly, the OHIM is a real organisation, and Nintendo have filed real trademarks there before. These games are filed under the same account as all previous applications, so this is definitely coming from Nintendo.
Furthermore, while Nintendo have been known to file trademarks "just in case" before – Pokémon Grey got trademarked years ago, as an example, but never became an actual game – no such trademarks exist on this database. Filling trademarks in the OHIM costs nearly a thousand Euros, too, so it would be an expensive just-in-case filing.
We don't know what platform these games are on, and with the timing of this announcement it's hard to make an accurate guess. It's possible that these games are New 3DS-enhanced or New 3DS-exclusive games, but it's also possible that these games' logos will be revealed tomorrow, but the games themselves won't be shown until E3; revealed as NX games. The fact that the announcement tomorrow is only five minutes – and we know most of that will be a recap of Pokémon's history so far – lends credence to this idea: If they aren't allowed to reveal gameplay until the NX is formally announced, an announcement would necessarily be very short.
Likewise, we don't know where these games are set, or whether they'll count as a new generation. With Magearna being known about, there's a very real chance we're looking at Generation 7 – but again, nothing has been confirmed.
So, more questions than answers, but an exciting glimpse at the future of Pokémon. We obviously cannot confirm this – no-one can until Game Freak show us what they've been working on tomorrow.
Either way:
Furthermore, while Nintendo have been known to file trademarks "just in case" before – Pokémon Grey got trademarked years ago, as an example, but never became an actual game – no such trademarks exist on this database. Filling trademarks in the OHIM costs nearly a thousand Euros, too, so it would be an expensive just-in-case filing.
We don't know what platform these games are on, and with the timing of this announcement it's hard to make an accurate guess. It's possible that these games are New 3DS-enhanced or New 3DS-exclusive games, but it's also possible that these games' logos will be revealed tomorrow, but the games themselves won't be shown until E3; revealed as NX games. The fact that the announcement tomorrow is only five minutes – and we know most of that will be a recap of Pokémon's history so far – lends credence to this idea: If they aren't allowed to reveal gameplay until the NX is formally announced, an announcement would necessarily be very short.
Likewise, we don't know where these games are set, or whether they'll count as a new generation. With Magearna being known about, there's a very real chance we're looking at Generation 7 – but again, nothing has been confirmed.
So, more questions than answers, but an exciting glimpse at the future of Pokémon. We obviously cannot confirm this – no-one can until Game Freak show us what they've been working on tomorrow.
Either way:
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