Pokemon Diamond/Pearl

[Razer]

from IGN.com-

"GDC 2007: Hands on with Pokemon DS
A new English demo made the rounds at the show.
by Craig Harris

March 8, 2007 - Both Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl -- the true follow-ups to the immensely popular Pokemon RPG franchise -- will hit the Nintendo DS in late April, so it makes sense that, this close to the release, we're finally seeing an English language build. At Nintendo's booth at the Game Developers Conference, that's exactly what we saw. Sort of. The Pokemon Company threw together an extremely limited demo for show attendees, playable for ten minutes or until you get to the demo's goal. Whichever came first.

In the demo playthrough, we're immediately tossed in Jubilee City in the Sinnoh Region, led through a specific path that will take us, eventually, to a cavern. Before we head off to our adventure, we're handed a Pokemon Watch which displays the time digitally on the lower screen.

However, a brief conversation later we're right into a battle with a trainer ready for the pouncing. Luckily for us, we have level 30 critters at the ready, including Lucario, Roselia, and Mime Jr. The first trainer first tried to take us down with his Buizel and Mantyke, but we stood strong and trounced him easily using the easy to navigate touch-screen interface to toss a few attacks in his direction. The second trainer posed no problem, either. He tossed his whole arsenal of Chatot and Pachrisu at us. Again. No problem. The third trainer brought forth his Kricketot and Cherrim, but again, with such powerful Pokemon in our pockets it was hard not to win.



The demo ends right when we strike up a conversation with the person who's blocking the entrance to the cave. A brief "See you when Pokemon Pearl and Diamond are released" message later and the demo comes to an end. It'll also end if you spend too much time lollygagging in the battles or on the path.

If you haven't been following the development of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, the two games are modest upgrades to the Game Boy Advance titles. Character models, backgrounds, creature designs and other elements mostly consist of skewed 2D sprites and bitmaps, though you might encounter a structure or two that actually pushes the 3D capabilities of the Nintendo DS system. The real hook in the update is the touch screen navigation which, admittedly, makes moving through menus a dream compared to the D-pad/button interface of the previous games.

The final game will feature Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support so that players can battle over the internet. The game will also interface with the upcoming Pokemon Revolution Wii title where players can link their system and copy of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl so they can battle their characters in 3D on the Wii system. That feature was also demonstrated at Game Developers Conference, though the versions used in the demo were entirely in Japanese. The DS and Wii systems synched up quickly and smoothly, and enabled a full touch-screen control of the battles via the connection.

The DS games, already available in Japan since September 2006, will ship in the US on April 22nd. We'll have more on the games in the weeks leading to their release."


(Razer runs thru the house squeeling like a little girl at a Justin Timberlake concert)

[kurjohoto the III]

I'm putting my pre order in for it tomorrow to get my pokemon styleist.

[Daijaga]

Way ahead of ya. Graillick and I already have out bits in for Diamond and Pearl, respectivly. Im getting so psyched about pokemon I bought Trozei the other day just to refamiliarize myself with some of the names and faces.

[kurjohoto the III]

Oh yeah? Well I've already gotten with one of my friends and we've set up tradeing with each other so we can have all three starters....I know it's sad....

[Razer]

I am mtired of the starters being the same every game (a Fire, a Water, a Grass) when there are 9 diff energy types (by my last count). I always use a cheat device to start with Flareon or get him as soon as I can. I was so stoked with when I saw you had Espy and Umbry! Of course I use a Flareon tho.

[kurjohoto the III]

I agree. Why not have a psi started, or I mean everyone loves the chu so why not an electric starter? I suppose,however, Nintendo is thinking if it ain't broken don't fix it and can anybody argue with that?

[Axel]

Actually, in D/P, Eevee gets two new evolutions.

Leafeon, a grass-type, and Glaceon, an ice-type

Oh, and a psychic starter would be overkill, IMO

[kurjohoto the III]

Why would it be overkill? I mean they aren't like the perfect pokemon. They have weaknesses just like everybody else. I love the new Eevee evoultions.

[Daijaga]

Holy badass Axel man. You've jsut combined two of my favorite pokemon things. Eevees and Grass types. This pleases me much the greatly in a manner of awesometudeiness.

Now I want D/P more than evar.

[Nogrick]

I still want Cubone to wear armor. But the Fire Monkey will do...