Diamond & Pearl: Nov 2005 in Japan

[Misty]

http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=7465

This was kind of expected if you consider the release dates of GS(November 21, 1999) and RS(November 21, 2002), but it's good to have confirmation.

[mr_pikachu]

Hmm... exactly a three-year interval between each set. Kind of an odd pattern. I wonder why they feel the need to wait until they reach that mark?

But anyway, I'm glad the games'll be out before the year's end in Japan. Hopefully they'll be available in the US before my 19th birthday... *sighs*

[Orion]

Hmmm... November. It follows the trend indeed. That also means the chances of more new Pokés being revealed is scarce, and we'll get the bunch when the game is released.

Oh well... I'll have to wait more. I want Emerald, and I won't waste money in a DS (That's surely expensive outh there...) for a single game. And something tells me the Generation won't be worth it... we'll see.

[The Muffin Man]

So this means we get Diamond/Pearl in March or September of 2006?

Blah.

[Misty]

Definitely not September.

March is probably pretty accurate.

[Orion]

I hope it comes out in March 2006. I mean, it's likely, but with FR/LG and Emerald, they sure have taken their time translating the game... I mean, 8 months for FR/LG? And 7-8 for Emerald? It's not as if FR/LG had the HUGE Side quest and lines of dialogue that weren't in RBY... same goes for Emerald/RS.

[Misty]

Emerald was delayed so it wouldn't conflict with the DS.

[SWAMPERT1]

It's getting released faster than I expected. Now I can't wait for this game to be released even more now. There is a con to the Japan release date though, it's going to take that much longer for D and P to get to North America :(. But we do get to see the new pokes that much quicker:)

[Powarun]

When the time comes I guess I shall import it, and wait until it gets released over here. If they have pictures for items again this should be much easier to play than Ruby.

[rinku]

It's still just possible that they may release in Japan and US around the same time... as they did with the hardware for the first time ever last year. I'd be keeping a close eye on how the PSP is going - if Nintendo is suffering from the undercut too much, they may bring releases forward to fight it. Though they would be hyper careful about Pokémon, as in the past.

[Misty]

Pokemon is heavy on text - it's a game that takes some time to translate. Further, I already believe they're going to be crunched; Game Freak took two years to make RS and they're being given, at best, a year and a half to make DP. Unless they're translating the game as it's made, it will not see a simultaneous release.

[WingullTrainer]

I'm not sure if i'm going to get these games, simply because i'm not sure I like the DS system, and how the games must be played on it.

[PokePaul]

I actually think it'll be interesting to see what new features will be part of the game because of the new DS system. I can't for the life of me even imagine what they'll use the second screen for outside of battles (anybody got any ideas?) so I'm looking forward to seeing how Diamond/Pearl will play on the DS.

[Jeff]

Probably for a map. What I would like to see is that screen representing some in game gadget such as the pokegear/nav/whatever. You could use the touch screen to switch between modes. They could include a map, and a trainer communicator thing so you could see if in game trainers want to rebattle you or even talk wirelessly with other people playing DP.

As for the game being out in November, I pretty much figured it would be that way, trends seem to hold pretty strong with pokemon.

[rinku]

Pokemon is heavy on text - it's a game that takes some time to translate. Further, I already believe they're going to be crunched; Game Freak took two years to make RS and they're being given, at best, a year and a half to make DP. Unless they're translating the game as it's made, it will not see a simultaneous release.

Well, I sort of assumed simultaneous translation in my speculation :)

In any case, while they may have had a shorter time to prepare for the DS hardware, there is a good chance that they have been working on the plot and pokémon since before ruby & sapphire were signed off on. FRLG and Emerald have hardly strained their creative juices over the last two years. In terms of Japanese release dates, there's a clear three years between R/S and D/P.

But I admit it is most likely that we'll see US release in March 2006.

[Animelee]

Ah, the magic date, November 21.

I'm sure Nintendo of America will want to get Diamond and Pearl out as soon as possible, because Pokémon games are what give their handhelds the most sales, meaning March 19 is the most-likely date for the North American release of D/P.

But who knows? I mean, with the PSP and all that, they may even have a sooner release date, and perhaps they're planning a near-simultaneous release of the Japanese and English versions of the games?

[Dark Dragonite]

I'll assume the date will be announced(but maybe pushed back) next month at E3, as with the DS Lite

[Razola]

As slow as this forum is, year-long necromancy is a no-no.