Even as the tragic Wii U has had a slow, painful death this year, Nintendo has also slowly moved on undaunted, inspired by arguably the most important Intellectual Property in its arsenal, Pokémon. Yes, despite the downfall of their current console, it seems as if their Pokémon titles have saved them from total downfall.
The success of Pokémon games
First, there was the ever-popular Pokémon GO, a game that became a worldwide sensation on a platform that Nintendo even barely touched: mobile; breaking just about every record you could break as a mobile game. Currently, Pokémon Sun and Moon are also breaking similar records on Nintendo's very own 3DS hardware, and the game is shaping up to be one of the biggest hits for an upcoming crowded holiday season.
Nintendo is benefiting from Pokémon success
While Nintendo only owns one-third of The Pokémon Company, along with Game Freak and Creatures Inc., and for a game like GO, they've actually shared a ton of revenue with Niantic as well as its investors, that hasn't mattered for its stock price, which has completely skyrocketed both on the release of Pokémon GO and now as Sun and Moon starts to shape up to be monster hits as well.
Pokémon Stars on the Nintendo Switch
Best of all, new rumors has indicated that this train ride may not be ending anytime soon. In addition to long-tail sales of Sun and Moon plus the constant updates and improvements of Pokémon GO, it has been reported that Nintendo's upcoming new hybrid console, the Nintendo Switch, may be getting its very own Pokémon Stars, which is a special version for Sun and Moon, sometime next year.
How Pokémon GO pushed through
Nintendo has always been known to be protective of its IP's, but for Pokémon, unusually so. With this being said, it's actually a miracle that Pokémon GO has ever gotten the greenlight in the first place. Developers Niantic had to approach Nintendo for the idea of making Pokémon GO, and it has been speculated that Pokémon GO was only approved because Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara just so happened to be an avid Ingress player, which was Niantic's original location-based AR game.
Things are looking bright for Nintendo and Pokémon
But with all things said, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company seem to have always had this idea that if Pokémon will appear on other platforms, it will somehow pose a threat to the handheld series. Instead, we have seen Pokémon GO bolster 3DS sales, and have paved the way for Sun and Moon to be the series' biggest hit in recent years. Its synergy is currently at its highest level, and it very easily could not have happened at all if Pokémon hadn't been allowed to be incorporated into a new platform. Rumors have also surfaced that after this, an official Pokémon console game might be coming. Right now, the Switch is the only console that Nintendo will have moving forward, so Pokémon games will be home console games, no matter what.
