Topic: Pokémon Black and White Release Date Announced

[NWR_MattB]

A new generation of Pokémon arrives in North America this March. 

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/24599

Pokémon Black and Pokémon White are coming to DS in North America on March 6, 2011.

The pair of games feature more than 150 new Pokemon as well as a brand new area known as the Unova region, which is based off of New York City, to explore. Each game has their own unique legendary Pokémon to obtain as well as unique areas to explore.

Pokémon Black and Pokémon White debuted in Japan in September 2010, and are the best-selling games in Japan this year, having sold almost five million copies. A release date for Europe has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be around the same time.

[Caliban]

Oh darn. What will this mean for the North-American 3DS release date.

[NWR_Neal]

I have a feeling that the 3DS isn't coming out until the end of March at the earliest.

[gojira]

First Dragon Quest VI in February and now Pokemon in early March.  With Okamiden also coming in March I'd say 3DS is probably coming the very end of March or in April.

[NWR_Neal]

I don't think Okamiden would be a factor for Nintendo. Even still, I think the earliest we will see the 3DS is March 13. More likely, it'll probably be the 20 or 27. Hell, look at when the DSi XL (3/28) and DSi (4/5) . I think it makes almost too much sense to have the system hit that same window.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Even now, it seems odd that this is not on 3DS in any form. The new trailer has reinforced that point to me; everything about the the graphical upgrade, from the new look of the cities to the battles, is geared towards depth of field viewing. I think it's kind of weird, especially when accounting for its close proximity to the 3DS launch.

[Sageprotector]

Makes me want it even more then I already did...this'll be epic!

[TheFleece]

I feel the same confused sentiment about the 3DS. I would have thought Nintendo would have delayed the game to make get it on to the 3DS, it just makes sense except that all the Pokemon fans who have DS Phats, Lites and DSi(XL) wouldn't really be able to upgrade to a new and, as far as we can say, more expensive system for the sake of a new Pokemon. My little cousins don't care if it's in 3D and it would crush their hearts, their parents wallets and Nintendo's PokeStock if they couldn't put out the 300 bucks for a new system.
In a way it seems like Nintendo's setting the 3DS up for a more streamlined, robust and mature experience. Maybe only in aesthetic though. Anyway, I really thought this would have been a 3DS title.

[Shaymin]

Even now, it seems odd that this is not on 3DS in any form. The new trailer has reinforced that point to me; everything about the the graphical upgrade, from the new look of the cities to the battles, is geared towards depth of field viewing. I think it's kind of weird, especially when accounting for its close proximity to the 3DS launch.

The original release didn't have 3DS proximity as a factor (September 2010 v February 2011 in Japan).

[gojira]

I don't think Okamiden would be a factor for Nintendo.

I don't think it's a factor for Nintendo either.  But I'm sure they let Capcom know when the 3DS is coming out and they would choose a release date with that in mind.

[Enner]

Even now, it seems odd that this is not on 3DS in any form. The new trailer has reinforced that point to me; everything about the the graphical upgrade, from the new look of the cities to the battles, is geared towards depth of field viewing. I think it's kind of weird, especially when accounting for its close proximity to the 3DS launch.

That's what Pokemon Gray Version will be for.

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Even now, it seems odd that this is not on 3DS in any form. The new trailer has reinforced that point to me; everything about the the graphical upgrade, from the new look of the cities to the battles, is geared towards depth of field viewing. I think it's kind of weird, especially when accounting for its close proximity to the 3DS launch.

That's what Pokemon Gray Version will be for.

Heh, good point. You never know, it might happen. I just feel Pokémon Black and White would be a perfect match for the 3DS. Come March or April, when the 3DS is supposedly launching, it'll look strange. "Here's the 3DS, but meanwhile, on the non-3D handheld, the hot new game is one with... a 3D graphics engine. Oh. Why's it on that system?" But I digress.

[Ian Sane]

My brother, the Pokenut, is obviously very interested in this title.  But the release date is about a month before his birthday.  That's going to be tough for him.  It's within the right timeframe for him to get it as a gift but does he want to wait a month to play the game?  Is it worth it for him to pay for it himself to get it a month early?  That's tricky.

I still have a feeling this will have some small extra feature for 3DS owners, like how the Zelda Oracle games had an extra shop for GBA owners.  But as Enner mentioned, Pokemon Gray is coming and 3D graphics seem like the obvious excuse to release the traditional double-dipped rip-off third version.  Hell, I could imagine Nintendo intentionally planning the third version around the 3DS from the start.  I imagine it would be difficult to come up with excuses every time to justify the third version.  Here is an easy gift-wrapped excuse so why not use it?

[TJ Spyke]

I hope the third game isn't called Gray, that seems so bad to me.

[Shaymin]

The game's centered around the concept of Yin and Yang, Grey is the balance of the two so that's why it's the clubhouse leader for the name. And here's the mascot whose predominant color is gray.

Also, the point of the 3rd version is that it can communicate with the original 2 games in the series as well as itself. If (3rd version) is a 3DS game, it may be more effort than they're willing to put in to map in DS->3DS communication unless StreetPass can pick up Black and White's C-Gear stuff.

But as Enner mentioned, Pokemon Gray is coming and 3D graphics seem like the obvious excuse to release the traditional double-dipped rip-off third version.

Here's a more obvious one: The last 3rd version (Platinum) sold 5 million+ worldwide.

[Ian Sane]

I just figured "Gray" is an obvious default name since it's the third shade.  If they really call it that that would be funny.  "Pokemon Gray" is such a stupid sounding name.

[Mop it up]

It isn't like the DS is going to suddenly disappear from store shelves, and these games are playable on the 3DS, so I doubt being so close to the possible 3DS launch will have an affect on sales. Like the PS3 and PS2, because of the high price of the 3DS, I see the DS line remaining in production for many years to come.

[Enner]

I just figured "Gray" is an obvious default name since it's the third shade.  If they really call it that that would be funny.  "Pokemon Gray" is such a stupid sounding name.

I just thought of a cooler subtitle: Slate Version. From a glance at a thesaurus, other possibilities are ash, dust, iron, lead, smoke, and stone.

As for the 3rd version being a rip off, I would be angry about if I didn't know that these sorts of upgrades are a somewhat regular occurrence in the Japanese video game market. Now I'm just a bit sad on it. The Japanese appear to be okay with it since these upgraded, international, final tuned, and last remix versions keep popping up.

[MaryJane]

What if the 3DS can upscale DS games into 3D?

There are TVs that do it (albeit not so great) but in localizing the new Pokemon games, they could have thrown in a few extra lines of code (yes... I know) to make the upscaling slightly better. It's very possible I think, but we still don't know how much horsepower the 3DS is packing, nor do I personally know how much it would take to do the upscaling.