The Pokemon Company President and CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara recently spoke to DIME about the past, present, and future of the Pokemon series.

One of the things discussed was Pokemon Let’s GO Pikachu/Eevee, the first mainline Pokemon game to ever appear on a Nintendo home console. Ishihara first explained before the arrival of Nintendo Switch, Game Freak had only made mainline Pokemon games for handheld consoles, so this was the first time bringing the main series to home consoles.

Ishihara said making a mainline game on Nintendo Switch was “more difficult than what we expected”. Developers at Game Freak wondered whether they could really put Pokemon on the Switch, and if so, whether they could make it interesting for all three play styles (TV Mode, Handheld Mode, Tabletop Mode). Ishihara joked some on the team could have believed it was “5 times harder” to make a Pokemon game on Switch, as compared to making a Pokemon game on a handheld such as Nintendo 3DS.

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