5 月
Remember, tomorrow is 5 月!
小型モンスター!最もよいのとしてまた知られていて!
Nintendo of America has just revealed it's sold one million copies of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl in a mere five days. That's enough to make it the nation's fastest-selling Pokémon title ever.
NINTENDO NEWS: POKÉMON HOTTER THAN EVER
April 26, 2007 - One of the video game industry's most celebrated franchises is officially hotter than ever. Within just five days of availability, more than 1 million copies of Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon Pearl for the portable Nintendo DS™ have sold in the United States since Sunday's launch; a faster rate than any previous Pokémon games since the franchise's U.S. introduction, almost a decade ago. To date, more than 155 million copies of Pokémon games have sold worldwide.
Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl are poised to become two of the top-selling games of 2007 in the United States. More than one half million people pre-ordered the games before launch. Additionally, thousands of people attended the kickoff launch event in New York, and demand for the games continues to be off the charts. These latest versions of Pokémon games were introduced in Japan on Sept. 28, 2006, and have already been purchased by more than 5 million video gamers there.
The two games include a number of features that make them particularly attractive to gamers, including:
- More than 100 new Pokémon.
- A 3-D look that makes Pokémon jump off the screen.
- Worldwide wireless battling and trading using Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection.
- Voice chat functions that let players talk wirelessly with their friends.
Later this year, these two titles will also help expand the Pokémon universe for the first time to Wii™, Nintendo's new home video game system. Diamond and Pearl owners will be able to use their DS hardware units as controllers for Pokémon Battle Revolution (launching June 25), the first Pokémon game available for Wii. Players also will be able to export characters to the Wii game.
For more information about Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, visit www.Pokemon-Games.com.
Japanese Pokémon Diamond and Pearl players are making what seem to be strange trades with American players, giving up semi-decent or hard-to-catch creatures in exchange for such lowly drones such as "Magikarp." (Even if you don't play Pokémon, it's obvious that anything named "Magikarp" is lametown.)
Using the new worldwide trading system in Pokémon Diamond, I acquired two each of the three starting Pokemon. This is remarkable because players are only given access to one of the three at the beginning of the game and they can't catch any more during the game. The only way to get more of them is to breed them, which is labor intensive and probably takes over 30 minutes of play time to create. In previous Pokemon games I've played, I've never had a starting Pokémon other than the one that I chose at the beginning of the game.
So what did I trade online to get all these starting Pokémon?
MagiCarp, one of the worst(*) and most common Pokémon in the game.
How did I get relatively rare Pokémon that takes over 30 minutes to acquire in exchange for one that takes me less than 2 minutes to catch?
All the Pokémon that I've received in trades have been Japanese, which makes sense because they've had the game for over 6 months already. Many have probably completed the game. Breeding starter Pokémon is one of the most common types to reproduce, so it's understandable that they would have starters available for trade.
But why for MagiCarp? Don't they suck? And why haven't the Japanese traded each other MagiCarps for 6 months? What makes mine valuable?
I believe it's because my Pokémon have English names. I believe Japanese players will make unbelievably great deals simply to have Pokémon with an English name.
Japanese players can't enter English characters for their Pokemon names. (And American players can't enter Japanese text.) English words are "cool" for some reason in Japan and since they need American players to trade their Pokemon to get ones with English names, they will make excellent deals (for Americans) to get English-named Pokémon. I believe the game has also sold around 6 million copies in Japan and probably about a million in the US so far, so, theoretically, the demand far outstrips the supply at this point, making sellers market.
I read about people making these crazy global trades on NeoGAF and didn't believe it until I tried it myself. Sure enough, it works. Quickly too, it probably takes about an hour before one of my trades is complete. I don't know when the Japanese market will be saturated with English-named Pokemon, but right now the market is hot. It seems that the Japanese will give almost any Pokemon that is easy to breed for an early game catch-em-in-the-dozens Pokemon with an English name.
I love thinking about game economies and I (obviously) find this situation fascinating. Nintendo's simple decision to not allow Japanese players to enter English text has created this strange anomaly where the value of an object is dramatically changed by the characters used in its name.
-Scott-
* MagiCarp is a crappy Pokémon, but he eventually evolves into Gyrados which is quite good.
Six Flags has teamed up with Corporate Alliance partner Nintendo of America Inc. to offer the chance to win a Wii, one of America's hottest gaming consoles, every week in their "Win a Wii a Week" Sweepstakes.
I didn't think of anything I foregot about New York except that the staff & police were very mean and everyone in a 10 block radius was either playing Pokémon or had Pokémon SWAG.
Okay, so I just got back from the Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Launch Party, I will try to explain it like you were there!
Tomorrow I am going to the Diamond & Pearl launch party. I will have photos and a in-depth review! See you tomorrow!
GameStop Celebrates the Launch of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl
Early Morning Launch Events Planned Nationwide
GameStop Corp., the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced that it will host early morning video game launch events at over 3,000 of its U.S. GameStop and EB Games locations on April 22, 2007. The events will celebrate the much-anticipated release of Nintendo’s Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon Pearl for the Nintendo DS.
Many GameStop and EB Games locations nationwide will open as early as 8:00 a.m., however, customers are encouraged to contact their local store to confirm the exact opening hour for the launch event.
Bob McKenzie, GameStop’s Senior Vice President of Merchandising, commented that, “Whether you are new to the world of Pokemon or a long-time fan of the franchise, the new Pokemon Diamond and Pearl video games are guaranteed to get you hooked.”
To find a store near you, log on to www.GameStop.com or www.EBGames.com, and search using the 'Store Locator' option.
The official Japanese Pokémon movie website revealed a new trailer and a new teaser for the 10th Pokemon movie: "Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai." This is the second trailer released, and the third teaser released (which is just a shortened version of the second trailer).
To view the trailer, go here: http://www.pokemon-movie.jp/trailer/index.html (Trailer instructions: The trailer has a Windows Media Player option and a Quicktime option. The button on the left is the larger video, the middle is medium, and the right is small.)
The movie will be released in Japan on July 14, 2007. There is currently no official US release date available.
While Thousands Gather in NYC’s Rockefeller Plaza to Celebrate Arrival of Pokémon Diamond & Pokémon Pearl, Millions More Can Join the Excitement at www.pokémon.com
Thousands of Pokémon fans are expected to attend this fun-filled event in NYC, and millions more are invited to log on to www.pokémon.com to catch all of the day’s excitement via a live webcast to run throughout the entire event.
WHO: Pokémon fans, parents, kids and video game enthusiasts of all ages
WHEN: Sunday, April 22, 2007 - Live Webcast 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. EST
WHERE: Live from:
Nintendo World Store
Rockefeller Plaza, NYC
Webcast location: www.pokémon.com
With Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl just days away, we're here to show you some other upcoming Pokémon releases to look out for! A few months ago here at PPN, we previewed this year's first series of new Pokémon toys. Well, now we're back with more, and there's so much that we can't even fit it all into one article! So today we'll start with some new Pokémon figures from Jakks Pacific:
Today, as of this moment there is No PokéNews but I wanted to leave you with this:
Pre-orders are now being accepted at various gaming sites and Amazon.co.uk for delivery 30 June to the UK and most countries in Europe. Price is £24.99 with Delivery FREE in the UK.
This is something I wanted to post a long time ago. Recently in my study hall I brought my DS with Pokémon Diamond and played it the whole class. People started to notice and remembered how fun the games were. People then started binging in their games like Red, Crystal and Fire Red and started to play it. They were loving it! They than started saying, "I'm gonna get a DS so I can play the new Pokémon games." So now in my school Pokémon is becoming popular again. When we come back from our week off, people will then have the new Pokémon games and our whole study hall can be engadged in 4-on-4 battles and having fun. I mean, do you ever do work in a study hall?
PPN has gotten got the latest TV commercial for the upcoming release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, due out on April 22, 2007.
Although many of you are not affected by this whatsoever, I figured you should know. As many of you know, there was a survey to decide what Pokémon should be given for pre-booking a ticket for the 10th Movie, the winner was Deoxys. However, this Deoxys is a rather unique one, different to the ones you would get on Birth Island on FR, LG or Emerald. Firstly, Deoxys is inside the long coveted Cherish Ball. This ball is not actually found anywhere in the game. It has the same Capture Rate as Pokéballs, it just makes quite an entrance whenever a Pokémon is sent out in it. This Deoxys is at Level 50, has a special ribbon and strangely holds the Item; NeverMeltIce. It knows the attacks; Psycho Boost, Zap Cannon, Iron Defense & Extremespeed. One attack from each form of Deoxys. Very handy indeed.
The Japanese toy manufacturer, Tomy, has a created a new Pokemon arcade game called "Pokémon Battrio".
Pokemon Battrio is similar to Pokémon Battle Revolution, but will feature cell shaded graphics and 3-on-3 battling by using poker chip like discs. The arcade game will use a sensor to pick up the data from the discs and show the Pokemon on the arcade's screen where players can battle it out. There will be 36 different Pokémon available when it will be launched, but more will be added on later on. Players can arrange the different Pokemon in different formations, which is an important aspect of the game play. Players can battle against another player, or can play a single player mode against a CPU opponent.
Pokémon Battrio will be available in Japan in July 2007, and will cost 100 Yen per play (which converted in US currency, is about 83 cents).
Pokemon Battrio - Screenshots
Pokemon Battrio - Arcade
Related Links
http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/battrio/ - Official Pokémon Battrio Website
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20070411/pkb.htm - More Pictures of Pokemon Battrio
That's right folks. Corporate gaming websites like IGN have already received their English retail copies of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl, straight to their DSs.
April 12, 2007 - Early this morning a large package from Nintendo of America arrived at our doorstep. Inside was what could be considered the crown jewels of the Nintendo DS library: early retail copies of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, along with extra goodies that come independent of the games purchased.
We're currently cranking down on coverage of the games, but we thought you'd enjoy a taste of what you'll get when you run out and buy a copy of the game. Remember, if you hit the retail chains now and put some cash down on a copy before the April 22nd release, you'll get a free stylus. No guarantees if they'll still be around when the games hit shelves, so might as well grab the freebies now if you're going to buy it anyway.
Earlier today a new arcade game for Pokémon was revealed called Pokémon Battrio. This arcade game is made by Tomy and utilizes specialized coins in order to utilize different Pokémon. With this, you can battle other people in massive glory.
The title of the 500th episode of the Pokémon anime series has been announced. WOW 500 episodes!
I hope you all had a Hoppy Easter, this is what I recieeved for Easter:
-Pocket Pikachu
-Sleeping Pikachu
-Japanese Pokémon AG PokéBlock Despencers
-3 Japanese Pokémon AG Figurenes
-A Delux Pikachu Figure
-Jirachi Key-Chain with PokéDex
-Spinning Pikachu Toy
-3 Packs of Pokémon Cards
-2 Promo Cards
-Pokémon Origami 3
-Pokémon Fan Magazine
-Pokémon Foam Figures
-And something elese that I'm probably foregetting.
Non Pokémon Items:
Candy
Nintendo Power
Silly Putty
Wii Play
Stuffed Animal
Candle
2000 Wii Points Card
And some other things.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl rank first place (4,949,861 sold copies) in the Top 10 ranking of the 2006 fiscal year (March 27, 2006 to March 25, 2007). They are followed by New Super Mario Bros. and the second game from the Brain Training series.
The Pokémon Ranger DVD was released today, and the aspect ratio of the film was kept in widescreen, like its original Japanese release (and its airing on Cartoon Network). It seems as if there will be no more cropped, defaced full screen American Pokemon DVDs anymore (unless they were originally drawn in full screen, like all Pokemon episodes)! The DVD also contained a Diamond and Pearl anime commercial, revealing that the first Diamond and Pearl season will begin airing Monday, June 4th, on Cartoon Network. Look forward to it!
New York City's Nintendo World store will host a Pokémon Diamond and Pearl launch party 1-5 p.m. April 22. Events listed at Pokémon.com include a scavenger hunt, live stage events, contests and prizes. Both Diamond and Pearl games will be playable, and fans can play TCG or watch Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.