We were right. The Pokemon Direct conference held January 8, 2013 in Japan was huge. It introduced us to Pokemon X and Y, which are moving the series forward in terms of presentation, available pokemon and release dates. It is taking the series a big step forward as this will mark the first time a Pokemon game receives a simultaneous, worldwide release.
Everyone will be playing Pokemon X and Y at the same time. The exact release date hasn’t been made known and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Japanese, North American, European and Australian debuts are a day or two apart, but all versions will be released in October 2013. That’s a big step forward, considering how text-heavy a Pokemon game is.
Nintendo also revealed some screenshots of the overworld, to show how things have changed. Everything is now in 3D, though Pokemon X and Y definitely still look like Pokemon games. The shot above is the trainer approaching a town, and other initial screenshots show an Eiffel Tower-esque landmark, a desert and the trainer crossing a bridge to what could be a museum or university.
We were also introduced to Pokemon X and Y‘s new starters, Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie. As you can see, Chespin is a grass pokemon, Fennekin a fire type and Froakie is a water pokemon. Fennekin and Froakie are definitely inspired by a fennec fox and frog, but I can’t tell what Chespin is supposed to be. It’s cute, but I’m stumped.
I’m happy, but I’ll admit my heart is a little broken as well. I was really hoping for a Pokemon Snap 2 announcement for the 3DS as well. I have a hankering that can only be satisfied by taking pictures of pokemon with my 3DS!
Source [Pokemon Direct (Japanese)]
if anything im getting the fire this. and this will be the first and only time i want the the fire starter.
Same here! This is the first time a fire starter has really appealed to me. So incredibly cute.