Pokemon X and Y Gameplay: Horde Encounter and Sky Battle Among New Features, Game Named After X and Y Axis

By Justin Sarachik, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, October 10, 2013

Pokemon X and Y was broken down in a Nintendo published blog that featured the company's executives talking about the meaning of the title's name and some of the new features.

The blog, called "Iwata Asks," features Nintendo President Satoru Iwata asking questions about the upcoming game to Pokemon's developers, Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda and Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara.

Iwata first asked why the game was called X and Y, and inquired as to what the name represents.

"The X and Y represent the x axis and the y axis," said Masuda. "The world holds people with all sorts of ways of thinking, and you can get a sense that they exist in different dimensions. But if you think of them as people who think on the x axis and people who think on the y axis-horizontal and vertical axes-then they intersect somewhere."

Iwata also asked why the use of X and Y instead of the conventional use of colors like in all the rest of the franchises games.

"So we consulted a lot of people, like (Ken) Sugimori-san5, and eventually decided this route was simple and easy to understand. And while the pronunciation of the letter may change by country, the shape of the letter is the same the world over-for example, we say 'ekkusu' for the letter X in Japanese, but in French they say 'ix'-so in that way too, it was an appropriate way to name these games," Masuda said.

The two developers also intro two name game features, Horde Encounters and Sky Battles.

"In Horde Encounters, five Pokémon may suddenly show up, but if you observe closely, they each have different characteristics, so you may think, 'I'm going to capture that female.' In this way, you can enjoy battles of a different nature than before," said Masuda.

Then Ishihara chimed in, "For the Sky Battles, in addition to Flying-type Pokémon, only Floating-type Pokémon can participate. Because of Sky Battles, you have to adapt team lineups that you thought were impregnable, which was fun when I tried it."

See the full interview here.

X and Y will launch on Oct. 12 for the handheld 3DS and is one of the most highly anticipated Pokemon games in years.