March 2, 2023

Bigger, Better, & New

Pokémon Day 2023 Announcements

The 27^th of February is Pokémon Day and as always The Pokémon Company treated players to a stream of updates and announcements for all things Pokémon. Here are some of the highlights:

Scarlet & Violet expansions:

One big announcement was the upcoming expansion for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. The DLC will split into two parts: The Teal Mask, planned for a fall 2023 release on Nintendo Switch, and The Indigo Disk, planned for a winter 2023 release. The DLC will allow players to explore an entirely new area, the land of Kitakami, and the school of Blueberry Academy. “While this tale is split into two parts, they link together to tell a connected story,” the press release said.

Pokémon Sleep app:

This app was originally announced in 2019 but we’ve heard nothing about it in the years since, until now. Players of Pokémon Sleep will journey to a new island where Professor Neroli studies the nature of Pokémon sleeping habits. Of course, Snorlax will be a key part of this game but you’ll be able to meet and catch many others who you’ll find napping together each morning.

Alongside the app is a new device called the Pokémon Go Plus Plus, similar to the previously released Pokémon Go Plus and Pokéball Plus hardware. We don’t have a date yet, but we know that Pokémon Sleep will be released for Android and iOS devices this winter.

Pokémon Concierge series:

The Pokémon Company and Netflix have teamed up to create Pokémon Concierge, a stop-motion animated series set to premiere on Netflix later this year. It follows the story of a concierge named Haru who works at the Pokémon resort, an uncreatively named resort for Pokémon. Not much else is known yet but the trailer suggests it will be a cute slice of life detour from the typical battling and catching Pokémon formula.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie release date has been brought forward:

A recent update announced that the film, which was set to release on April 7^th has been moved slightly forward to release on April 5^th for Australia, the USA, and 60 other markets around the world. While not the first time the release date has been altered, with it first being 2022, then March, then April, it is hopefully the last.

Playstation State of Play:

Late last week was Sony’s State of Play and we were treated to trailers, updates, and announcements for a range of games. There are more than we can talk about here but some of the highlights were:

There was an announcement trailer for Journey to Foundation. It’s based on Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi epic and coming Fall 2023!