Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
PokéTV 10th Anniversary
In April, 1997, the Pocket Monsters (Pokémon) anime premiered in Japan. Next month marks the 10 year anniversary since its broadcast premiere, and Rica Matsumoto has been performing the role of Satoshi the entire time.
Special events planned for 10th anniversary
Speaking to Yomiuri Shinbun, she said,
"It's been 10 years, hasn't it? But, it doesn't feel it's been that long. It's like Satoshi and I are doing this together. From the beginning, I wanted to perform, and I knew I wanted to do work that let others have fun."
Beginning in her late teens, and under the guidance of her father, the chairman of a stage troupe, she began working in theatrical productions. As she continued to work in stage productions, she became ill with tuberculosis. It took a long time to recover, and in that time, friends and colleagues suggested other ways she could perform, such as voice acting. She auditioned for a 1988 TV series called Osomatsu-kun, and thus started her voice acting career. In the late 90s, she saw an audition for the role of Satoshi, which was only described as "A young boy's voice, that is also a singer."
"Satoshi is always coming up with funny things to say, such as 'Pajama wa jama' (Pajamas are a menace!), as well as lots of gags. It's what attracted me to the type of character."
When the Pokémon broadcast began, the games increased the show's popularity. Initial ratings on TV Tokyo were 10.2%, but increased to 18.6% by November, the highest-rated show on the network at the time. The first Japanese Pokemon theme song, "Mezase Pokemon Master!" ("Arise, Pokemon Master!") sold over 1.8 million CDs. But then, a disaster occurred -- in December 1997, Pokemon rose to international attention when bright flashes during "Electric Soldier Porygon" caused epileptic seizures in hundreds of children. During a 4-month nationwide suspension of the show, there were sporadic gatherings of fans, some of whom sang the theme song.
"The children's eyes were shining. Everyone sang the theme song. They wanted the show to start broadcasting again; it was a thought from the heart."
Pokémon returned to television the following April and has been airing ever since. The third Pokémon series, "Diamond/Pearl" began airing last September. In North America, Europe and beyond, more than 68 countries are airing Pokemon or its sequel series. Beyond the TV screen, the 10th Pokemon movie is also set to premiere in Japan this year. To commemorate the 10th anniversary, a series of events are planned. On March 29th, 2007, a one-hour special will air on TV Tokyo. The following week, April 5th will feature a 2-hour special.
Matsumoto finished by saying, "Knowing that children are happy about Pokémon makes me glad. To everyone who likes Pokemon, I hope you continue to enjoy it!"
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Nintendo Power Article
In May's Nintendo Power there will be a new article on the upcoming US Diamong and Pearl. Kinda late, huh?
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Mysterious Dungeon Sequel
Just a small update concerning the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon sequel. As reported by Famitsu and Dengeki Online, Japanese gaming sites, confirms that the release date for Japan will be sometime this year in 2007. There will be two versions for the DS, and it will support Wi-Fi.
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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Special: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate
To celebrate the announcement, the official Japanese Pokémon website announced that the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Special: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate will be available for viewing online (the Japanese version). The English version of the special was aired in the US on the Cartoon Network back in September 2006.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Sneak-a-peak!
Pokémon.com has announced that a sneak peek of the Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl season will be on Cartoon Network, on April 20th.
Tonight on Cartoon Network
Tonight on Cartoon Network Pokémon Ranger: Prince of the Sea airs at 7p (EST)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
A New Mysterious Dungeon Set?
Different from Diamond & Pearl, this new entry isn't one of the main RPG entries in the Pokemon franchise (most notably, it isn't the expected third entry in the Diamond & Pearl series). Instead, developer Chunsoft is once again taking on the license for an as-yet unnamed dual SKU release set for Japan some time this year.
Chunsoft previously worked on Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon, a dual SKU release that hit Japan in late 2005 (followed by international releases in 2006), with one entry coming to the DS and one to the Game Boy Advance. This unexpected pairing of the Mysterious Dungeon series with Pokemon was a huge worldwide hit, selling over 5.5 million copies.
This time, both versions of the game will be on the DS, allowing Chunsoft to further take advantage of the DS's unique feature set. The game will make better use of the dual screens, and will even include Wi-Fi support. The game's designers are hoping to give players the feeling of playing with others.
That's all we know at this point. It's unclear if the new game will be a Mysterious Dungeon title. But we're pretty sure it will have Pokemon, and that should be good enough! With a 2007 release, specifics shouldn't be too far off.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
CoroCoro Announcement!
CoroCoro, a Japanese gaming magazine, announced in their current April issue that a new Pokémon game will be revealed in the next issue (the Coro Coro May issue). The same announcement is also at CoroCoro's official website. The CoroCoro May issue will be available next month, on April 15, 2007. No further details were given about the new Pokémon game.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
New Pokémon?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
ATTENTION
ATTENTION! Jirachi!+Rob.bLOG (Free) (jirachirob.net), JRBnET's paid blog has moved to here, http://jirachirobfree.blogspot.com, due to issues with our host. Our host Elixant is closing, Sunday (way to procrastinate Rob!) after many years of serving people. Please update your bookmarks by, of preferably before Sunday, March 11, 2007.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Demos!
The Demo version of Pokémon: Battle Revolution, Pokémon: Pearl Version and Pokémon: Diamond Version were released at his week's Game Developers' Conference 2007. They are exactly the same as the Japanese ones but in English.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl US Release Information
More news and updates from Nintendo and the Game Developers Conference that included PBR, and DP news. This time we have a few all new US ScreenShots and some updated (Officially anyway) game information for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl was also released at GDC today.
Overview of todays release:
Pokémon® Diamond Version and Pokémon® Pearl Version | |
Launch Date: April 22, 2007 ESRB: E (Everyone) Game Type: Role-Playing Game Players: 1-8 (1-4 in Pokémon battles) |
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Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Some Update
This week is the Game Developers Conference and also this weekend I have to fix ALL the news blogs because they are giving me problems.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
vUS Pre-Orders
As it was previously announced a few months ago, Nintendo would be giving out free Stylus to any person who pre-orders Pokémon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl, before its release date later next month.
Well the time has come. Ebgames and Game Stop has began to take in pre-orders for both games, each game featuring a different stylus. Below are the two different types of stylus. The game is also selling for a retail price of $34.99. Click image to pre-order now.
Enjoy
CARTOON NETWORK Schedule Correcction
The premiere of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl will not be aired on March 10, as previously speculated. Cartoon Network's schedule originally listed a new episode (but no episode title) to be aired on March 10th, at 9:30 AM. This lead to the belief that the Pokémon Diamond/Pearl series will be premiere at that time slot. However, that time slot was later left blank on the schedule. And now, CartoonNetwork.com's schedule currently lists "Fear Factor Phony!" (the first episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier) as the March 10th, 9:30 AM time slot.
Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea
The premiere of Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea on Cartoon Network is still scheduled for March 23rd, at 7:00 PM (for more Cartoon Network movie schedules in the month of March, go here: ToonZone: Cartoon Network Movies for March 2007)