Friday, November 18, 2016, saw the colossal release of The Pokémon Company's new duo of games: "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon." The new generation of games, succeeding "X," "Y," "Omega Ruby," and "Alpha Sapphire" versions, were first teased in February, with gradual teases of the games continuing throughout the year until their release last weekend.

The new games have already cemented themselves in Nintendo's history: they've become the highest-selling games on the 3DS platform, having sold over ten million copies opening weekend. This is 150% more than "X" and "Y" sold, and it's no shocker. This summer saw the worldwide release of Pokémon's cash cow app "Pokémon GO," in addition to the spring's re-release of the original 1996 games on the 3DS's Virtual Console.

This year also marks Pokémon's 20th anniversary, and it shows in "Sun" and "Moon," with homages to past entries int he franchise. Some of the original 151 creatures were granted Alolan Formes, meaning they adapted to the tropical climate of the new Alola region and took on new types and appearances. This breath of life into older species combined with the new species of the Alola region allowed new and old players alike to traverse Alola and become the very best (like no one ever was). In addition to this, Red and Blue themselves appear in the postgame as competitors at the new Battle Tree facility. While "X" and "Y" brought Mega Evolutions to old fan-favorites such as Charizard and Mewtwo, "Sun" and "Moon" introduce Z-Moves, which were also distributed to fan-favorites such as Snorlax and Mew.

While the hype for "Sun" and "Moon" is still imminently massive, ideas about the next games have already begun to circulate. Nintendo announced its next console, titled Nintendo Switch, on October 20th, 2016. It will replace the Wii U, and be able to be played both stationarily and portably. Eurogamer reports that "Sun" and "Moon" may make their way to the Switch in a project codenamed "Pokémon Stars."