Pokémon X Tekken = Pokkén

This morning the "surprising announcement" teased earlier was released: Pokkén Tournament. Pokkén Tournament is a collaboration between Pokémon creators Game Freak and Tekken creators Namco Bandai. The game looks like it would be a fun collaboration, however there is one bit of news related to it that bothers me: the release date. Well, specifically, the details of it's release. Apparently, it will be coming to japanese arcades in 2015. It was only alluded to be coming to consoles, but when would be the key note here. This worries me, in that it means it could be quite a while before we see this outside of Japan... if we do at all. Another pokémon arcade game, Pokémon Tretta, has never been released outside of Japan. I would hate to see the same thing happen with this game. Click here to see the news release on Pokemon.com.

Now, it's time to weigh in on this announcement. First of all, I'm personally a little disappointed. I was hoping for something for the Wii U that was more aligned with the main games. The fact this is another spin-off game (sort of) bothers me. More than likely this will have no connectivity with the main games at all. If you're a hardcore pokémon fan that must own everything pokémon, you'll want it. If you prefer to play the main series, you'll most likely be able to get along not buying it and be fine. When this was originally shown, a few months back a screenshot was shown at the pokémon game show that alluded to this game. Many people thought it was likely a pokémon fighting game, but I had hoped it would be an HD remake of Pokémon Stadium. Obviously, I was wrong. So far, it's unknown if pokémon that are not fighting type will be included or not. The only confirmed fighters are Lucario (and Mega Lucario), Machamp, and Blaziken.

Not everything about this announcement is disappointing, though. In fact, the main thing to focus on with any game should be "is it fun"? After watching what appears to be in game footage, I could see it being fun for people who are fans of the pokémon games and the fighting game genre. If you aren't that big into fighting games though, I'd stick to Smash Bros. This game will likely be of a more serious fighting game by comparison. Also, the idea to work with Bandai Namco to collaborate to make this game makes me hopeful for the future. Maybe they'll collaborate with Blizzard to make the MMO people are always whining about.