Pokemon X and Y Looks to Revive a Struggling Nintendo
The life of Nintendo is riding on the success of new Pokemon game X and Y, with reports indicating a boost in sales every time one of their exclusive powerhouse franchises is released.
Pokemon has been successful regardless of what Nintendo console it has appeared on, although their moneymaker is with the handhelds whether it be Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, DS, or 3DS, it has been a smash hit.
The new game launches on Oct. 12, which will coincide with the launch of a new handheld the 2DS. Nintendo is banking on Pokemon to bring enough attention to the company that the new handheld will be enticing as well.
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Wall Street Journal reports that when Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out for the DS, the handheld's sales began to take off. The game went on to sell 18 million copies, the fifth most popular for the console with two more Pokemon games reaching the top 10 on the DS.
When the Pokemon games, Red and Blue, came out in 1996 for Gameboy, Pokemon took the world by storm. The craze spawned comics, cartoons, toys, and a card game. Since that time it has remained one of the most popular forms of children's entertainment in the world.
A demo for Pokemon X and Y was recently released, and through the short clip gamers got a glimpse of some of the brand new features in the game.
For starters, Game Freak added Mega Evolutions to the characters, which can be activated through a special Mega Stone.
Only select Pokémon will be able to transform into a "Mega" form, and will require their own significant Mega Stone. According to the game company, these new mega evolved Pokémon will be much stronger in battle.
Another new feature will be the player's ability to ride their Pokemon in the same fashion as when the main character rode a bike in the previous games.
Lastly, for the first time, the player may decline a battle initiated with another trainer. Whereas before, the gamer only had an option to run when a non-trainer battle occurred, but only if he was of a higher experience.
