Pokemon: Let's Go Can Be Played With a Poke Ball

Nintendo was in full Pokemon mode last night when it announced not one, but three new Pokemon games all heading to Switch. The first is the free-to-start Pokemon Quest, which you can already play on Switch and heads to Android and iOS in late June. But the more interesting announcement is a pair of Switch-exclusive titles called Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Lets' Go, Eevee!

The Pokemon: Let's Go titles still aren't fully-fledged Pokemon games as we've enjoyed on the 3DS most recently, but they are much closer to that than Pokemon Quest. What's more, they can be controlled with a real Poke Ball instead of a Nunchuk.

As Polygon explains, Pokemon: Let's Go is based on Pokemon Yellow released back in 1998/9. It will contain the original 151 Pokemon along with some Alolan variants taken from Pokemon Sun and Moon. The big difference comes from Nintendo deciding to go down the Pokemon Go route and embracing its capture mechanic of battling monsters by swiping, only this time it's using a single Nunchuk (or Poke Ball) controller. The battles look like Pokemon Go battles, albeit using some nice, new crisp graphics suitable for a Switch game and you can even transfer Pokemon between Pokemon Go and Let's Play.

Nintendo is encouraging family members to play together by including co-op, which sees a second player able to join the action using the spare Nunchuk. However, we should still expect a story arc, gym, and trainer battles. This is, after all, a game Nintendo intends to charge full price for on release. We'll be waiting quite a while to play it, though, with the launch date set as November 16. That should give you plenty of time to spend a small fortune in Pokemon Quest.

As for the Poke Ball Plus controller, it will also go on sale on November 16. It weighs 65 grams, includes a 220mAh rechargeable battery, accelerometer, gyro sensor, and can emit audio, vibrations, and lights up. It's a drop-in replacement for a Nunchuk when playing Pokemon: Let's Go, but comes with the added bonus of simulating a real Pokemon capture. Shaking the Poke Ball gently will make the Pokemon inside emit sounds and vibrate as if it's reacting and trying to get out. We don't know the price yet, but battery life is a quite poor three hours.

The Poke Ball Plus is also compatible with Pokemon Go. It allows you to leave your phone in a pocket and instead the Poke Ball will light up and vibrate when a Pokemon appears nearby. Simply press a button to virtually throw a Poke Ball and then wait to see if you were successful. A different light pattern on the ball will inform you either way. The Poke Ball Plus doubles as a step counter, which feeds back into the Pokemon Go app and counts them towards hatching eggs or getting candy for your Pokemon.

If you're determined to wait for a "real" Pokemon game on Switch, then that is happening but not until some point in 2019. We've got plenty of Pokemon to enjoy until then, even if it means picking up a 3DS and a copy of Ultra Moon or Ultra Sun.

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