With only a little over a month remaining until Pokemon X and Pokemon Y for Nintendo 3DS hit store shelves across the globe, Nintendo released a special Pokemon-centred Nintendo Direct Presentation. This presentation gave us a few bits of information about the upcoming games, as well as some of the online-connectivity features that will be available.
A large part of the presentation was the announcement of Pokemon Bank. Pokemon Bank is an online system where players can store their Pokemon. The service can be seen as the next iteration of mass-storage options, after Pokemon Box and My Pokemon Ranch. The system, which will be accessible through a downloadable app on the 3DS will allow players to store 3000 Pokemon for convenient storage and quick searching.
The system is designed to be compatible with Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, but will also be used for future titles. According to Nintendo, all future Pokemon games will be able to tap into this system, which means you can send your Froakie you got at the beginning of your X or Y adventure, and keep it all the way through until the 7th, or even 8th generation of Pokemon games.
In addition to making allowances for future games, Pokemon Bank is also backwards compatible with Pokemon Black, Pokemon White, Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 through another app called the Poke Transporter. The Poke Transporter will allow players to send their Black/White/Black2/White2 Pokemon to their Pokemon Bank, where they can be accessed and sent to X or Y. Although no official pricing has been announced, Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo stated that the service will require an annual fee.
Moving back to the games themselves, we discovered today that in a deviation from what normally happens in Pokemon, it will not be the region’s professor who gives you your first partner. Instead, your partner Pokemon will be gifted to you by a close friend. The professor will show up later in the game, and give players a choice between three additional Pokemon; The Kanto starters; Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.
To end the presentation on a high note, and to get fans even more excited for the game, we were shown that the original three starters will be able to undergo Mega-Evolution. MegaVenusaur, MegaCharizard and MegaBlastoise were all shown, and they look pretty badass. We also learned that Mega-Evolution will be controlled by a key item known as the Mega Ring. When the player’s Mega Ring interacts with the Pokemon’s Mega Stone, then Mega-Evolution will take place.
That was a lot of information in such a short time, and for this reporter anyway, Nintendo have done their job. I am even more excited for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y when they launch next month; October 12th. Did you check out the presentation? What do you think about MegaCharizard? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Pokemon news as it becomes available.
