Diamond and Pearl News Discussion

[Doctor Oak]

Yes my friends, Diamond and Pearl have finally been revealed:

Read today's update for my current views on them but I have generally only positive things to day - it looks great.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

The female trainer looks awesome - I can see me picking her. The sprite of the guy looks... average.

[Editted] Nvm, didn't read the news article properly

 

[Prof. Cinders]

New region, new trainers, 3D look... Woo! Looks like it's shaping up to be great! Can't wait to see some more news...

 

[QuagsireQing]

Not to mention we haven't even seen how the second screen will be used.

 

[rinokwedjnfalwa]

Awsome this means we might see something about it at E3 soon

 

[Doctor Oak]

Awsome this means we might see something about it at E3 soon

No....

It ISN'T at E3 and isn't going to suddenly magically appear there tommorow.

It WILL be at the Tokyo Game Show in September though, that's pretty much guaranteed with an Autumn release.

There are two more scans in the update that we got after I made this topic - can't be arsed hoking them out right now. ^^

 

[Linkachu]

Bow down to Munchlax in all his munchy glory!

Now that the giddiness has passed... WOW. I was not expecting this at all, especially since it had nothing to do with E3. This week for video games has just been beyond amazing. Just... dude! ^^

Okay... so, first impressions.

From the looks of it, battles aren't animated. I can live with that.

The female trainer actually looks cute. The boy on the otherhand is fair but looks too boyscout-ish IMO. But meh ^^

Love the graphical-style they went with for the world. Bet it looks 10 times better in motion on the smaller, sharper DS screen, too.

Intrigued to see how the second screen will work and look. It probably won't be long now until that's revealed, too.

Summed up... At long last, D/P LIVE! More pictures! More info! I want more! ;D

 

[Salamence-trainer221]

There...Okay...I'm not really impressed with the screens, I'm just happy they didn't make it fully 3D. The girl looks sweeet...

I think the 2nd screens just going to be used for item and pokemon management and choosing Pokemon attacks...maybe a map?

 

[Alex Bock]

I personally love the way the buildings look and how they kept the same look to it with some twicks here and there. It's just the characters that kinda bug me.They seem too plain plus I'm getting sick of brown hair.

 

[Linkachu]

There...Okay...I'm not really impressed with the screens, I'm just happy they didn't make it fully 3D. The girl looks sweeet...

That's kinda my thoughts really. I was more shocked and excited by the fact that there actually were D/P pictures than what they looked like. I wasn't blown away or anything (although I meant it when I said I like the style of the outside world, buildings, etc. It fits just right), and I was a bit disappointed how the battle pics looked - but again, to animate every single Pokemon (all the old ones AND new ones) would take them ages, and delay D/P even further. I can live with non-animated sprites if it means we actually get the games before 2010.

In the end, like you said, Sal, I'm just glad it isn't full-on 3D, because about 1/3 (if not more) of the 3D Pokemon models from Colosseum/XD look like crap (the same crappy models we've been stuck with for far too long). Don't even get me started on their human models

As for the second screen... They could do quite a bit with it. Use it for maps and all the item screen junk, but maybe also a sky effect like with AC WW (depending on which screen the main gameplay is actually displayed on) or double-screen display of the world like Sonic Rush/Yoshi's Island 2. I kinda doubt the double-screen display thing will happen, but the sky effect could work quite nicely in certain areas of the Pokemon world (sand, snow effects, rain, yadda yadda). Could even show random flying Pokemon from a certain area passing by every so often.

 

[Salamence-trainer221]

Well...I'm guessing that there going to be using the top screen for the battles, walking, etc....and the bottom for management. So in my case, I doubt there's going to be a sky...but yeah whatever they do it'll probably be good enough.

 

[baratron]

I like it. I like that it's a similar style to the GBA games but improved in terms of graphics. I prefer that to the strange 3D of Colosseum/XD. I have nothing against 3D, but I like full 3D, not a funny mish-mash thing where the characters are 3D, but you can't rotate the camera at all. The game may decide to rotate around so you can see the other Pokemon from behind during the battle, but it's all a bit random.

In terms of the characters, woah, huge surprise about which pkmn they chose to illustrate it . (I wish I could read the names of the attacks.) I like the look of the girl character in particular (I could see me wearing that outfit in real life). Stellarwind says she seems to be wearing "a condom" on her head . OK, maybe I wouldn't wear a hat of quite that size, but still...

The boy looks a bit too much like Ryo-kun or Sugi-kun from Pop'n Music. As they were first seen in Pop'n Music 2, which came out in 1999, the whole beret thing seems decidedly dated to me. Ah well!

More! More!! We need more info!

 

[Linkachu]

I like it. I like that it's a similar style to the GBA games but improved in terms of graphics. I prefer that to the strange 3D of Colosseum/XD. I have nothing against 3D, but I like full 3D, not a funny mish-mash thing where the characters are 3D, but you can't rotate the camera at all. The game may decide to rotate around so you can see the other Pokemon from behind during the battle, but it's all a bit random.

Even if they did the 3D right in your opinion, it'd still take a lot of work to be decent. IMO, the biggest draw back from the 3D usage in Colosseum/XD is the graphics themselves (but I mentioned that above). The actual style of 3D, or the fixed camera, didn't bother me at all.

Alex also mentioned something on the D/P page that I should've addressed, since it does get on my nerves in Colosseum/XD:

as anyone who has ever played Colosseum or XD can attest to, the 3D setup leads to some slow battles - not something terribly suitable to a game that WILL have you fighting about 100 Zubat in one cave before you can escape it.

The 3D battle effects in those games rocks for one-on-one matches with friends, but to use it for the entire game makes things horribly tedious and becomes a HUGE annoyance after awhile. This can be said for any flashy RPG really, only Pokemon moreso because of its nature and the setup. No matter how prettiful the attacks look (or just the battles themselves), if they take a lengthy amount of time to beat the luxury of watching 'em quickly fades. That's when the run function becomes your best friend! ^^ ... Except that you can't run from trainer battles, so you're screwed

 

[advanceshipper]

wow! its a good thing i got my DS!i just cant fugde canking wait till they come out next year in the U.S.

 

[Linkachu]

People have read the latest news update I take it?

Voice chat people! Now we can actually brag when we kick someone's ass or make excuses for losing. Or just diss the victor ala Gary from the games. He gets knocked down time and time again but still manages to make you sound like the loser

Then there's always the hearty exchange of "good battle", but who's that restraint?

 

[Doctor Oak]

I hope that they use it during battles - unlike the Metroid Hunter system (which, to be fair, couldn't cope with it anyway) - that way I get to call everyone the swear word of the day while I either win fantastically or lose annoyingly.

 

[Linkachu]

I hope all of you "day and night" fans are happy If you haven't seen the latest D/P pics, check out Oak's news post with the new scans and info. Lots of fun to be had. Gender design differences! ^^

90% of the new Pokemon will be able to evolve

What a great stat. All the non-evolving Pokemon in G/S really annoyed me. Having to deal with even more in R/S didn't help. At least the R/B, unevolving Pokemon were mostly useful (aside from Tangella and a few others) >.>

 

[QuagsireQing]

Aw...non-evolving Pokémon are my favourites. There's something that always seems more creative about their designs than the predictable evolving Pokémon.

I hope there's a Pokémon that doesn't evolve until Level 100.

 

[Linkachu]

Depends on the Pokemon if you ask me. I see nothing creative about critters like Dunsparce or Luvdisc

Mostly all of Kanto's non-evos, tho, along with Murkrow, Skarmory, Zangoose, Tropius, and a few others were neat Pokemon. It just feels like, overall, latest gens' non-evolving Pokemon haven't been able to hold their own as well as first gens could. Even Tropius I found on the weaker side. Some of the G/S one-stagers, like Murkrow, are desprate for power-ups when they shouldn't need them at all.

But all of that aside, I enjoy evolving my Pokemon because it gives me something to work towards. Training non-evos always feels to me like there's something missing, even if it's one I really enjoy like Zangoose. Even a weak Pokemon that evolves gives you a reason to keep with it for a certain amount of time. Weak one-stagers don't have that drive behind them.

I hope there's a Pokémon that doesn't evolve until Level 100.

That would be so annoying and incredibly sweet at the same time ;D

 

[Persian]

Nuuu! A Pokemon that evolves at level 100...I'd never be able to train that much! I just get too easily distracted...ooh, look, shiny...

I mean! The female trainer's outfit is really cool! Nice to see they improved from the Ranger female character's design! I love her dress...it's so cool. I'm definitely choosing the girl as my player (though I always do anyways).

I'm happy that 90% of the Pokemon evolve (or do they mean that they are in evolutionary lines?). It's cooler when you're looking forward to an evolution when you're training, because you know your Pokemon will get stronger, and training will be easier! ^_^;;

And yay for the return of day and night. I hope there are a lot of routes with different Pokemon during the different times of the day-I really liked that feature from GSC. Something about waiting until morning to have to catch a Ledyba in Silver...I remember one of my friends telling me how she "woke up early to catch a Ledyba." I dunno why, but I find that cool...somehow.

And Oak-sensei...please don't curse at me on the off-chance we ever battle! *whimpers* Maybe voice chat during battles would be a bad idea...especially if a little kid was battling a teenager. The teenager might say things that really shouldn't be said to a little kid...while beating their Pokemon to a bloody pulp. Yup. The true values of Pokemon...

Sigh...I can't wait for D/P...

 

[Linkachu]

And Oak-sensei...please don't curse at me on the off-chance we ever battle! *whimpers* Maybe voice chat during battles would be a bad idea...especially if a little kid was battling a teenager. The teenager might say things that really shouldn't be said to a little kid...while beating their Pokemon to a bloody pulp. Yup. The true values of Pokemon...

That's why the Friend ID-based voice chat is a good idea. You pick who's on your list so you can choose if you want cursing friends or not

As for people like Alex, though... he'd go out of his way to curse his ass off against anyone ^^;

 

[Doctor Oak]

There is a simple formula in effect here.

If you tell me not to swear, of course i'm going to fucking swear.

If you don't bring it up, I wont put the effort in. Though I might still swear a bit anyway.

 

[Linkachu]

There is a simple formula in effect here.

If you tell me not to swear, of course i'm going to fucking swear.

If you don't bring it up, I wont put the effort int. Though I might still swear a bit anyway.

Remind me to wear headphones when playing against you

 

[Persian]

There is a simple formula in effect here.

If you tell me not to swear, of course i'm going to fucking swear.

If you don't bring it up, I wont put the effort in. Though I might still swear a bit anyway.

Hehehe. You're unbeatable, Oak-sensei. ^_^;;

I dunno how much my parents would approve of voice chat anyways. *shrugs* Plus, a lot of you are in the UK...so there would be a freaky time difference. Of course, I'm saying that while Oak-sensei, who is one of the UK-nin, is online...-_-

 

[NonAnalogue]

I am going to laugh really, really hard if there's a censor in this game, and if someone swears, it gets bleeped out.

 

[Persian]

How would that work, though? They'd have to somehow get it to recognize the words in different accents, ways of saying it, and other things. Is the voice recognition stuff for the DS really that good? I mean, it would be kinda ineffective if it only worked part of the time...

Oak-sensei could probably get around it! ^_^

 

[NonAnalogue]

Actually, I was just joking. I mean, I know it would be pretty much technologically infeasible.

Hence why I would laugh really hard.

 

[Doctor Oak]

I'd fall over in amazement considering that Voice Recognition still sucks so many balls it needs a dozen pimps just to keep control of it.

 

[Persian]

Yeah, Oak-sensei, you...you do that...^_^;;

But voice recognition must be very hard to program. I'm still in high school, but my parents are both programmers, and when they heard that the DS would have voice recognition...they laughed...-_-

Oh, and sorry if I subconsciously start sounding like Chiyo-chan from Azumanga Daioh. I just watched that...it tends to happen sometimes...-_-;;

 

[Linkachu]

I'd say 'shame on you!' if I knew who Chiyo-chan was, but since I don't...

I've noticed with Brain Age that the DS voice recognition has trouble with the color "blue". Out of any of the other words you'd have to yell out at the thing, that's the one it'll usually screw up on. It's just not for me either.
Nintendogs can be the same, confusing commands over and over again even when you have the DS positioned right, there's no BG noise, you're speaking clearly, etc. I'm surprised that voice chat works at all with MPH, yet supposedly it works just fine...

Ah well. At least the DS attempted to use voice recognition, and for the most part it gets the job done. Yelling at puppies is teh fun ^^

 

[NonAnalogue]

I've noticed with Brain Age that the DS voice recognition has trouble with the color "blue". Out of any of the other words you'd have to yell out at the thing, that's the one it'll usually screw up on.

I feel unloved.

 

[Persian]

Link-san, I'd say "shame on you" for NOT knowing who Chiyo-chan is. X3

And we still love you, Blue-san...*throws a Shroomish plushie at Blue-san*

Yelling...at puppies? Weird. And it's strange that the voice recognition would only have troubles with "blue." Is that word somehow harder to recognize than, say, "red" or "green"? They're all simple enough words...maybe it's the "bl" part, or something. I really dunno. But...tis weird.

But if voice chat is just to another player...doesn't it not matter if it can't understand the words, since it broadcasts it to the other player? Or does it convert the talking to written words, in which case it would?

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Maybe if you make blue sound like "Baloo" it'd help, because... Well, you never know.

And Kaz (my shiba inu) likes to roll over when yelled at to sit. How the heck can you mix those up?!

 

[NonAnalogue]

But if voice chat is just to another player...doesn't it not matter if it can't understand the words, since it broadcasts it to the other player? Or does it convert the talking to written words, in which case it would?

In that case, no, it wouldn't matter. But games like Brain Age, which require you to say different colors out loud to finish tasks, can be seriously messed up if the game can't recognize the color you're saying.

 

[Linkachu]

Link-san, I'd say "shame on you" for NOT knowing who Chiyo-chan is. X3

:'(

I was hoping you wouldn't pick up on that

 

[Persian]

Heheheh.

Anyways, to get, er, back on topic, I was staring at the picture of the next Pokemon Wonderland's cover, and I realized that the names of the legendaries aren't THAT blurry. So, I tried to squeeze out all of my two-years-of-high-school-Japanese...and see what I could come up with.

The Diamond legendary:
I'm almost positive it's Tia_ga. Bulbagarden translators came up with Tiagaga, and I can see where they're coming from with that...but I also think Tiadaga could be possible. Also, if "ya" is in a weird font, I guess it could look like "da" or "ga", so Tiadaya or Tiagaya could be possibilities. The second-to-last katakana, since it seems to have a lot of strokes (in the blurry picture, though, so it could just be the low-quality-ness), could be "ho" or "ne", I guess. Maybe "ru", even...

The Pearl legendary:
This one's a bit harder, but I think that __gia seems pretty likely (I suppose the "gi" I see could be a "ki", though, if the font is weird). The first katakana SEEMS to be the same as the second-to-last katakana from the Diamond one, and the second one just confuses me (I guess it could be "ne", but I'm not really sure). The first katakana could be "da" or "ga," I guess, giving me something like Danegia, Ganegia, or something. Bulbagarden got Ruhakia, but I really don't see that...especially not the "ha," but that could just be because I've never tried to read reeeeally blurry katakana before.

Was that interesting to anybody? I don't know enough Japanese to see if they mean anything, and since the Japanese names are a whole lot harder to split into Japanese words than the English ones (well, to me, at least), I can't come up with a whole lot...plus, they could be imported words (there was a theory that the "tia" had to do with "tiamat").

...Does anybody else read katakana? Or am I the only one...? I want some other people's opinions...-_-

 

[Linkachu]

Huzzah! When I first discovered the new D/P piccies I was on a PC at work (and only had five minutes free before having to get back to actual "work" XD) but now I can give them some serious attention.

First off. Bloody "Wiiiiiiiiiii!" all around. The things they could do with those two new Legends... Will they even live on the planet, or in space? Or maybe in another dimension altogether? First all I wanted was a snowy area/town. Now I'm getting the feeling that D/P will hold some of the coolest locations yet ^^

Quoted by Alex in the news comments: "Dorapion rocks. It kicks ass. Screw accordians."

Dude, looking like an accordian IS one of the reasons it rocks XD I'm assuming its related to a Japanese myth creature, tho. If not, props to them for creating an interesting new Pokemon. Still not something I'm jumping to train, but more interesting than Cherimu. As far as cute things go Pachirisu pwnz it paws down, tho I am partial to the rodenty creations. *Glomps Buoysel and Pachirisu*

Not gonna count the Grass-type out completely, tho. All these new attacks and abilities sound sweet and could easily decide what I train. And yet, this is just the beginning. Can't wait to see what other goodies they throw at us >=)

I'm really torn now on which game I want to buy... Both Legends look great, but I like the Diamond coloring better. Oh wellz. I'll just buy both! Not like I wouldn't use both anyways. The WFC will only get me so far the way I play Pokemon games ^^

Already there are four Shino Pokemon I seriously want to train (Buoysel, Munchlax, Lucario, and squirrel thingie) my first time through and we only know of 14! x.X
And with much smilie usage and ranting, I'll shut up now and stare at the pretty pictures.

 

[Salamence-trainer221]

Well, we're up to 400 Pokemon now. I'm glad that trading is going to be in WFC. Not that I didn't suspect it to be left out. But..yeah..

 

[Sem]

I'm just sad we didn't get any starter pics. ._. They'll have to put em in next month's issue of Coro Coro. I doubt they'll put em in the September issue cuz that's only a week or two before the Japan release, but then again, they may just wait until then. At least people state side should recieve D&P by Christmas, since the US got the games only a month or two after Japan. Yet, the Wii is comming out the same time as well, so I have no idea how I am going to pay for all these games. Sem has got to stop blowing all his money. *Goes off and calculates how much money he needs for all the awesome stuff comming out this year.*

 

[Linkachu]

Ditto to that. All this goodness is gonna rape our wallets :X

I may not buy both the games at the same time, but I will get 'em both at some point. As long as I can also afford a DS Lite, and FFIII, and Mystery Dungeon, and Ranger, and Phantom Hourglass, and Wii, and Twilight Princess, and... Damn x.x