It's hard to believe that it's already been three years since the last brand-new Pokemon games hit store shelves. While a pair of updated remakes have made their way to fans in the meantime, there's been no truly new Pokemon games since X & Y back in 2013 — and with the series' 20th anniversary upon us, it's easy to assume that Nintendo has something up its sleeve.
That being said, you'd be hard-pressed to find a group of gamers as rabid as Pokemon fans — which can lead to a lot of half-baked rumors and speculation being thrown around. To be fair, Poke-fans have unearthed a few rumors that turned out to be true ... but there have been just as many duds when it comes to unearthing Nintendo's top-secret plans ahead of schedule.
As such, it's important to take the latest rumor with a serious helping of salt: according to YouTuber SuperMetalDave64, Nintendo is planning on releasing a new Pokemon game later this year, with the working code-name "Rainbow."
In the video above, Dave claims to have a source within Nintendo of America (specifically in the marketing division), who provided him with budgeting materials that outlined the publisher's plans for 2016. This includes the generalized release dates for a number of different Nintendo products — which includes the as-of-yet unannounced Pokemon game. Unfortunately, aside from the title's unofficial name, there's not much else to go on. As a result, it's hard to tell if Nintendo is working on a new Pokemon game or not ... though there are clues that support both sides of the argument.
First and foremost: it's Pokemon's 20th birthday. Considering how much marketing Nintendo has already put out there, it just wouldn't make sense if the company didn't capitalize on it with a new release. Plus, the report mentions a supposed 3DS price cut — if that's the case, it'd make sense for Nintendo to release a new Pokemon game alongside it.
Even so, the fact that there's only one Pokemon game listed sticks out. Aside from its enhanced, cross-generation ports (such as Crystal or Emerald), Pokemon games are released in pairs — if Nintendo was planning on something big for the series' 20th anniversary, it just doesn't make sense to waste it on an updated revision that only the most hardcore of fans will play.
Finally, there's the source of the leak itself: while it's impossible to say if Dave is true or not without more information, it wouldn't be the first time that someone claimed to have a source inside Nintendo. It's not that the information in the report is unbelievable — it's just that, according to Dave's YouTube channel, this marketing director over at NoA is the biggest source of leaks since the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. If all these leaks were actually true, the mystery source probably has been found out and fired by now.
So, is a new Pokemon game on the way? Probably — it'd only make sense for Nintendo to release something later this year. Is this "Rainbow" title and the rest of the report legitimate? That's a bit harder to figure out ... but at this point, it's a tenuous "maybe."
Either way, expect to hear more from Nintendo at E3 2016 this June — until then, you can read Dave's full report over at NintenGen.
