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Nintendo Direct round-up: Hyrule Warriors, Dr. Luigi, free Celebi Pokemon
The last Nintendo Direct of 2013 was a doozy, with host Nintendo El Jefe Satoru Iwata delivering plenty of goodies for Nintendo fans and Wii U owners. Watch the whole Nintendo Direct or check out the news highlights here: The Legend of Zelda gets a dose of Dynasty Warriors with Hyrule Warriors, announced this morning and planned for next year. The Wii U game is a collaborative effort between Nintendo and Tecmo Koei. Yoshi's New Island will welcome tourists next spring and the series' original creator, Takashi Tezuka, was revealed this morning as working on the project. Yoshi's Island Zone will also be a free DLC stage in Sonic: Lost World. Bravely Default will courageously add a side-story demo not found in the core game on January 2 through the eShop. Wii Sports Club is hitting the lynx today. Links? That would make more sense. Homophones! Wii Sports Club gets golf. Dr. Luigi does the rounds starting this month in North America, travels to Europe for more training in January. Rosalina of Super Mario Galaxy will join the Super Smash Bros. roster. Oh yeah, she's also bringing along her Luma.
Catch a shiny Palkia Pokémon at GameStop
From September 9 until September 29, Pokéfans can visit their local GameStop to pick up a special shiny version of the legendary Pokémon Palkia. This marks the second leg of a promotion in which GameStop is offering gratis shiny, legendary Pokémon to build hype for the October 12 release of Pokémon X and Y. During August GameStop offered players a shiny Dialga, while October will see the store handing out shiny Giratinas. To earn your new shiny Palkia, you must show up at a GameStop location with either a Nintendo 3DS or DS, and a copy of Pokémon Black, White, Black 2 or White 2. GameStop reminds players to ensure that their game has fewer than 11 Wonder Cards collected, as the Palkia transfer will require at least one free Wonder Card slot.
EB Games, JB Hi-Fi handing out shiny Pokemon down under
Dilemma: You want free shiny Pokemon (and who doesn't, let's be honest), but having your home in Australia makes a trip to one of the giveaways at Gamestop in the US a little problematic. Solution: Just head over to your local EB Games instead, as they'll be offering the very same virtual gifts. Legendary Pokemon Dialga, Palkia and Giratina will be on offer at participating EB Games in Australia and JB Hi-Fi Stores in New Zealand, Nintendo Australia has announced. Each Pokemon will be available one at a time, for two weeks. You'll need your Pokedex and can have no more than 11 Wonder Cards in your possession. No purchase is necessary, though we're sure EB wouldn't mind if you picked up a bauble or two. Find the schedule for each Pokemon after the break.
Gamestop, GAME to distribute shiny legendary Pokemon
Pokemon's rare 'creation trio' is coming to GameStop and GAME stores in the US and UK, where in the run-up to Pokemon X and Y fans can pick up special "shiny" versions of the legendary monsters. In case you're not 100 percent clued up on your Pokedex, shiny Pokemon have unusual alternate colors, making them collector's items in a series that is kind of completely about collecting. Participating GameStop and GAME stores will distribute Dialga, Palkia, and Giratana, the three cover Pokemon of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, in a series of three separate runs. We've included details for both US and UK Poke-fans after the break, who'll need to bring a DS or 3DS with them, along with their copy of White, Black, White 2, or Black 2. Our eyes, however, remain firmly set on October 12, when the first main Pokemon entries for the 3DS in X and Y will be released worldwide.
Catch musical Pokemon 'Meloetta' at GameStop in March
In the world of Pokémon, you go into tall grass to search for new creatures in the wild. In the real world ... GameStop. From March 4 to March 24, you can bring your DS and your copy of Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, or White 2 into a participating store to receive Meloetta, a Melody Pokémon who can change Formes mid-fight, using a move learned at Café Sonata in Castelia City.To learn more about Meloetta, you can see the "Meloetta's Moonlight Serenade" short through the mobile Pokémon TV app. We're reasonably certain that's the only time we're going to refer you to a cartoon for information. We're not making any promises.%Gallery-179803%
Nintendo cuts hardware sales targets after shipping 3M Wii U consoles in 2012
Nintendo adjusted its annual net profit outlook from ¥6 billion to ¥14 billion (around $154 million) on the back of a weakening yen, with the company posting a nine-month operating loss of ¥5.8 billion ($63.7 million) compared to the corresponding figure of ¥48.4 billion for the last fiscal year. However, Nintendo's end-of-fiscal-year hardware targets took a big hit on the back of shipping 3.06 million Wii U consoles in 2012.Nintendo now projects a figure of 4 million for Wii U by the end of its fiscal year on March 31, down from the 5.5 million the company predicted in October 2012. 3DS shipments are now expected to hit 15 million for the year, down from initial projections of 18.5 million.Nintendo has now shifted 29.84 million units of its handheld since launch. Meanwhile, the Wii's life-to-date figures are up to 99.38 million, with 3.53 million units shipped across the nine month period.Regards software, Nintendo shifted 11.69 million Wii U games since the console's launch on November 18, The best-performing games were the bundled-in Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U, coming in at 2.33 million and 2.01 million respectively.On the 3DS front, Nintendo shipped 39.56 million units of the handheld across the nine months. Pokémon Black/White 2 soared to a total of 7.63 million on the back of almost 3 million sales in Japan alone, while New Super Mario Bros. 2 is at 5.96 million. Animal Crossing: New Leaf sits at 2.73 million, largely thanks to its popularity with Japan's female demographic. All figures are as of December 31, 2012.
The top 30 games of 2012 in Japan
Japan's list of best-selling games in 2012 is full of national pride, including titles from Capcom, Nintendo, Namco Bandai, Square Enix and Sega, among a few other Japan-based publishers. The top game of 2012 in Japan is Pokemon Black and White 2 for Nintendo DS, which we found to feature a "world that feels larger and more interesting than ever."Black and White 2 is followed by Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3DS, Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D for 3DS and, breaking the pattern in more than one way, Resident Evil 6 for PS3. Check out the entire lineup below, as compiled by Siliconera from data on 4Gamer.
Pokémon Pokedex comes to iOS
The Pokémon Company has officially brought the Pokémon Pokedex to iOS. The app allows users to browse various Pokémon, check out their stats, learn where to find them, how to evolve them and more.The $1.99 purchase of the iOS Pokédex will get you access to Pokémon from the Unova region. The four remaining regions can be purchased for $5.99 each. In other words, topping up the entire Pokédex will run you about 26 bucks. It seems really out of character for a Pokémon product to support such obsessive-compulsive purchases, but there you go.%Gallery-172995%
Real-life Elite Four coming to Pokemon Black and White 2 November 19
Starting tomorrow, players can take on the top four finalists of all three divisions from the 2012 Pokemon World Championships in Pokemon Black and White 2. While the Junior and Senior Division challenges have been available for some time in the game, Monday's inclusion of the top four from the Masters Division Challenge will round out the special challenge event.Players can battle the 12 total championship teams by progressing to the Pokemon World Tournament located in Driftveil City in the game. The full list of the teams and their Pokemon lineups can be seen after the break.
Pokemon's World Tournament is rich with nostalgia
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. My first experience with Pokemon was on Christmas Morning 1998. I was visiting my Grandmother in Minot, North Dakota, and there was nothing to do but play as much Game Boy as humanly possible (it's true – I've never been very social, even with family).I was rolling right along with my Charmander until I ran into Brock – the franchise's very first gym leader. For those wielding a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur, he wasn't much more than a speed bump. For a novice trainer with an under-leveled fire-type, he and his Onix were nigh invincible. I beat my head against that stone for an entire morning, only stopping when I was finally dragged out to breakfast.I eventually defeated Brock and collected all eight badges. Then I did it again and again. If I'm not mistaken, there are 48 badges in all now. Forty-eight gym leaders! All of them different; all of them serving as the backbones of their respective games.Gym leaders serve all sorts of different purposes. In the fiction, they are sort of like the town sheriff, serving as both a pillar of the community and a bulwark against troublesome villains like Team Plasma. Frequently, they help to advance the story in some way by helping the player solve a problem. In gameplay terms, gym leaders are convenient bottlenecks that keep players advancing through the game at the pace Game Freak prescribes.%Gallery-155420%
PETA parody 'Pokemon Black and Blue' fights for fictional animal rights
In celebration of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 launching yesterday, animal-rights group PETA today released Pokemon Black and Blue, a parody game with the tagline "Gotta free 'em all." Pokemon Black and Blue has players embody Pikachu as he fights against trainers for liberation from what PETA sees as a torturous, imprisoned life."Much like animals in the real world, Pokemon are treated as unfeeling objects and used for such things as human entertainment and as subjects in experiments," PETA writes. "The way that Pokemon are stuffed into pokeballs is similar to how circuses chain elephants inside railroad cars and let them out only to perform confusing and often painful tricks that were taught using sharp steel-tipped bullhooks and electric shock prods."This isn't PETA's first foray into activist gaming; in December 2010 it released Super Tofu Boy, a parody of Super Meat Boy. Team Meat responded to PETA by including Tofu Boy as a playable character in a Steam update of Super Meat Boy.Pokemon Black and Blue demonstrates that while it's terrible to punch, kick, cut or hit fictional animals with bats, it's perfectly acceptable to electrocute humans. Also, words can hurt just as much as quick attacks. And hugs. Give Pokemon Black and Blue a shot in the embedded game below (Warning: It has music and will auto-play).
See Genesect in action in Pokemon Black and White 2
This trailer for The Pokemon Company International's first special distribution creature in Pokemon Black and White 2, Genesect, shows off its exclusive Techno Blast move. Genesect can be downloaded for free in the game until November 12.
Pokemon Black and White 2 review: A generation's true form
With Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, developer Game Freak has finally decided to stop beating around the bush and give us a "true" sequel instead of a Pokémon Platinum-esque expansion pack. The series is better for it too, even if the much touted emphasis on storytelling remains largely superfluous.Set two years after the events of the original Pokémon Black and White, it features a new silent protagonist, a new rival, and a handful of new gym leaders. More importantly, there are new Pokémon – or should I say, old Pokémon. Unova is now rife with Pokémon from previous generations – a welcome sight for fans of the series. It makes the world of Pokémon feel bigger and more connected than it already is, and makes the Unova Pokémon feel like they're "part of the family."Disappointingly, the returning Pokémon aren't the only familiar component. As usual, Black 2 and White 2 rigorously follows the badge/Elite 4 formula that has long since worn out its welcome but will never go away. What a pity that Game Freak didn't use this opportunity to experiment a bit with the formula and trim down the usual rote badge quest (or make it entirely optional). As a franchise, Pokémon can be at once really smart and innovative, and annoyingly set in its ways.%Gallery-155420%
Evolving Pokemon: How Black 2 and White 2 points to the future of 'catching them all'
Who says Pokemon never changes? Until recently, the franchise's story wasn't much more than an afterthought. Its main virtue was its consistency – you could always count on an evil organization showing up to destroy the world for no real reason at all. With Pokemon Black and White, a sliver of change was added to adjust the formula and pointed the series toward the possibility of more deft storytelling.That trend continues in Pokemon Black and Pokemon White 2, which takes the time to examine some of the consequences of the previous game. The somewhat deeper story isn't the only new element either. The franchise's first ever numbered sequel brings with it a few other interesting trends, which are apt to continue once the Pokemon series leaps into the Nintendo 3DS market.%Gallery-155420%
'Genesect' available to early Pokemon Black and White 2 buyers
Nintendo is bringing the Pokemon series all the way into the modern era of gaming, with free launch DLC for this October's Pokemon Black and White Version 2. Of course, you can guess as to the nature of the content, as these are still Pokemon games.Playing the DS sequels between the Oct. 12 launch and Nov. 12 allows you to get the "Mythical" Pokemon Genesect through the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection in the US. Genesect is a Bug/Steel-type Pokemon supposedly discovered as a fossil. It appears happy to be alive.Along with this news, Nintendo released screens of the "Black Tower" and "White Treehollow," areas exclusive to their color-coded counterparts, where players can battle high-level Pokemon in randomized maps.
Pokemon Black and White 2 anime trailer, we choose you!
If you're down with Pokemon, this six-and-a-half minute animated trailer promoting October's DS launch of Pokemon Black Version 2 and Pokemon White Version 2 is going to blow your mind. It has everything Pokemon anime fans live for: Pokemon and anime. Enjoy, you earned it.
Pokedex 3D Pro catalogs 'em all on Nov. 8
Pokedex 3D Pro will come to 3DS eShop in North America on November 8, with the freeware Pokedex 3D going away October 1. The new version includes information about "more than 640 Pokemon," along with a new Pokemon Challenge feature with a selection of quizzes to help cement knowledge of all those nonexistent creatures.Pokedex 3D Pro is also updated with a price higher than "free" (which is what the original cost). In Japan, that's ¥1,500 ($19); Nintendo of America has not yet revealed the price stateside.Nintendo also revealed a series of features in Pokemon Black Version 2 and White Version 2 related to connectivity; these include the "Memory Link" that allows you to "connect" the new game to a copy of Black or White and follow the activities of certain characters between the two games.
3DS has sold 19 million units to date worldwide
Along with its earnings release, Nintendo issued updated life-to-date sales totals for its currently released hardware. The 3DS reached 19 million units worldwide as of June 30 – coming up on the GameCube's lifetime 21.74 million quickly, and beating Nintendo's earlier 18.5 million projection. Its predecessor, the DS, continues to widen its lead over every other platform ever, at 152.05 million. And the Wii creeps toward 100 million, with a worldwide total of 96.56 million units.As for quarterly sales, Nintendo typically issues a list of games that sold at least one million copies in the period. This list usually includes a lot of "evergreen" games, like Wii Fit, New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart Wii. Surprisingly, for the quarter that ended June 2012, only one game made the list: Pokemon Black Version 2/White Version 2, which sold 2.45 million copies, including 30,000 outside of Japan – despite not being released outside of Japan.
Catch Pokemon Black and White 2 worldwide this October
Nintendo announced this morning Pokemon Black Version 2 and Pokemon White Version 2 will arrive October 7 on North American shores. UK copies will be held in quarantine until October 12 (gotta check the Pokemons for ticks).Coinciding with the launch dates, Nintendo will also release into the digital wilds Pokemon Dream Radar on the 3DS eShop. The augmented-reality "shooter" allows trainers to find Pokemon around their homes to transfer into Black 2 and White 2.
Nintendo Direct trailers: Kirby's Dream Collection, Professor Layton, and more
Last night during the US Nintendo Direct presentation, we were treated to footage of several new games including the Wii Kirby's Dream Collection and Pikmin 2, the 3DS's Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and the DS's Pokemon Black and White Version 2. There's also a video detailing the eShop's Virtual Console promotion. Find them all after the break!%Gallery-158919%
