PAX: NINTENDO ANNOUNCE 4-PLAYER ACTION BATTLER POKEMON RUMBLE

Well, they had to do something with all those low-poly renditions of Pokemon Ranchers, and so Pokemon Rumble was born.

Nintendo announced the WiiWare game over the weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo, where IGN reports that it played like a simplified 4-player Gauntlet, with simple two-button controls to melee or special attack invading Pokemon (with all the franchise’s rock/paper/scissors-like offensive/defensive weaknesses/strengths intact), collecting defeated enemies, and re-summoning those enemies as your own.

Apart from IGN, all of the on-site reporting over the weekend seemed to unanimously agree that the game was surprisingly well-received, and so it climbs the list of anticipated WiiWare games due out before the end of the year.