Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Tops 500,000 Pre-Orders
Mere days before the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl, Nintendo let slip that more than half a million pre-orders have been laid down in North America alone, and that the duo is expected to be among the most popular games of the year. At 533,000 pre-orders, this more than doubles the 2004 figures for Pokemons FireRed and LeafGreen, which sold a combined 3.4 million copies.
With 100 new Pokemon and the ability to import Pokemon from other DS and GBA games, not to mention the outrageously cool VoIP chat via Nintendo's WiFi (I still can't believe the DS will do that!), the latest thrust in the movement of Pokemon world domination is pretty plush.
Add to that the event at the Nintendo World Store here in NYC on April 22, which will host a panoply of Pokemon events and more sticky little fingers than all the Purell in the world could decontaminate, and it's looking like a very very Pokemon Spring season!
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 18 April 2007
· Comments (4)
Other stuff like this: ds, nintendo, pokemon diamond, pokemon pearl
I played the first game on my Gameboy Color during Jr High (9 years ago?)...has anything changed except for a slight upgrade in graphics? Every time I give this franchise a chance it feel way to familiar.
That's kinda what I'm wondering. In terms of recycling the same formula over and over again with minimal change, the only series that can rival Pokemon is Megaman. And at least Megaman changes significantly from series to series, even if each iteration within a series is a carbon copy of the last.
Bah, New Zealand isn't getting them until JUNE! Nintendo hates us.
Still, thank you play-asia!
New things to the series?
Well for starters (lol pun) the three starter Pokemon bring two new type combinations for their final evolutions: Grass/Ground and Water/Steel.
Also, with over 100 new pokemon, choosing favorites won't be a problem especially with the backwards compability with Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/FireRed/LeafGreen.
The battle system is completely rehauled with the new special/physical split. This means moves like Hyper Beam which used to be Normal and run off of the Attack stat, now runs off of Normal type and Special stats.
Many new moves were added as well. Some of my favorites include (Some names not given official english names yet):
Stealth Rock - Rock variant of Spikes that hits flying pokemon.
Trick Room - Slower pokemon attack first for 5 turns, could be very handy for an EXPLOSION team.
Snow Slide - Ice type physical move that helps many water/ice pokemon who need to use their large Attack stat (aka Gyarados)
Aqua Ring - A type of leftovers for water pokemon.
Some pokemon get new abilities/evolutions! These abilities bring some pokemon up to par with others of their variety.
Danger Anticipate gives you a message when your enemy has selected an attack that is "super effective" which allows for a good smart switch