"Pokemon" Fans Are Disappointed With the Series' Latest Games. What Does It Mean for Nintendo?
Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) has been on a big winning streak over the last few years, with fantastic sales for its Switch console and the successful introduction of some of its big franchises to mobile platforms helping the Japanese gaming giant deliver fantastic earnings growth and stock performance. A recent controversy surrounding its latest Pokemon games probably won't be the catalyst that reverses its momentum, and it hasn't dented the company's post-earnings share price gains, but the titles could now safely be put on a list of 2019's most controversial games.
Fans of the series are upset that the new games seem to reuse character models, assets, and animations from the preceding installments in the series. This probably wouldn't have been a problem, but the game's developer, Game Freak, cited the need to make new character models and animations as the reason the new games have significantly reduced the number of collectible Pokemon.
In other words, content that some fans view as central to the series' appeal isn't in the newest games, and evidence surfaced that the rationale given for the exclusion may have been inaccurate. While this scenario doesn't pose a significant long-term threat to Nintendo, it turned into a massive issue on social media.
Source Fool.com