One of the beefs I've had with this series ever since it reached GBA is that they've done very little to make the graphics better. They might be slightly more detailed and more colorful but overall it's that same overhead/isometric view of your stumpy player, running around. Battles are the back of your Pokemon versus the front of the enemy's Pokemon with very little detail in the backgrounds and a lack of true environment and interaction. Disappointing :(

Yeah, but that's because they've always been on Game Boys, which have never really had huge jumps in graphics each generation. The DS should be capable of more. However, judging by the video Infernal Monkey linked a few posts back, it's not a whole lot better. Maybe we'll at least get Pokemon Stadium-esque battles.

Well, Pokemon XD tackles the graphics definition but the view is still almost the same. Battles are done in a Pokemon Stadium fashion, though, so they look pretty good.

The 3D'ness of the GCN games are a hit and miss to me. Some pokémon look awesome in 3D, while others are simply hideous (Machamp anyone?). Call me crazy, but I very much prefer the GB-style graphics, much like how I prefer the GBA style graphics in the Harvest Moon series to their 3D counterparts on consoles. Some things are just better left on a specific console.

Well, these games are turning out nicely. I never expect major graphical leaps in my handheld games, so this 3D look is nice. If you compare this to R/G/B/Y/G/S/C/R/S/E/Fr/Lg it's a significant step up.

While animations would've been nice, doing so for the 300+ pokemon available would be too much, so getting the day-night cycle is good enough for me.

And coliseum battles? I like the gameboy iteration battles far better, unless you want each encounter to last 8 minutes.

Seconded. I didn't like the fact none of the monsters actually touched each other. They run just a short way and then magically 'hits' the opponent. That's just lame.

What I've always thought would be absolutely fantastic would be a console pokemon game that was more like the gameboy versions. I'm talking about animated 2-D pokemon art, etc.. But in this age of 3D, this is increasingly becoming a pipe dream.

Oh, one last thing. I've always been interested in seeing the starter pokemon in each new addition and this one is no different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PokemonDP2.gif

Here's a little clip of the female main character walking through a town. I really like the look of it, everything seems to flow really well onscreen.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9875/45069yz5fb.jpg
sauce

The box art has SCARY POKEMON. :(

They've always had the more "frightening" pokemon on the cover. Good to see the tradition isn't dead.

True, but the other Pokémon on previous covers were never this freaky looking. Monster designs are getting worse with each new game : /

Granted, I do like the look of some newer monsters though, like Seviper and Lairon.

This is probably the freakiest. They make Groudon look normal.

No way! This is the freakiest cover pokemon by far.

Aww, but Pikachu is cute. NOT! I've always preferred Raichu myself. Claydol is pretty freaky, but it's not on any cover, alas.

Yeah, see? They even made Pikachu look menacing.


Nah, that pokemon on Emerald was the freakiest. By far.

http://www.pokebeach.com/news/0805/rayquaza.jpg

Is this loli

Shit, it looks like Ruby and Diamond Weapon just made Pokemon.

Wonder what type these guys are.

Info time guys (btw, props to whomever is representing Paper Mario):

Here's some more scans:

http://img23.imagevenue.com/img.php?...size_473lo.jpg
http://img131.imagevenue.com/img.php...size_356lo.jpg
http://img120.imagevenue.com/img.php...size_469lo.jpg
http://img102.imagevenue.com/img.php...size_581lo.jpg
http://img24.imagevenue.com/img.php?...size_419lo.jpg
http://img12.imagevenue.com/img.php?...size_415lo.jpg
http://img152.imagevenue.com/img.php...size_395lo.jpg


And here's some more information from Serebii.net. Looks like they shafted Tamanta given that's it's both water and flying (phail with electric).

Whoo, I'm getting goosebumps. If that date is accurate, we could be seeing Pokemon as early as..winter? Perhaps Q1 of 2007?

Winter? No way, chances are it'll be released around the same time that Fr/Lg hit the states. Marchish, no?

So they're finally making differences between female and male pokemon? This might be a little interesting. I just hope it wont become imbalanced. Like a female pokemon lacking the moves of a male pokemon or a male pokemon lacking an ability of the female pokemon.. They should be the exact same.

Oh geez, all those new Pokémon are hideous, especially those...those...things on the covers.

Oh well, I'll still be getting the game anyway.

These games are starting to look interesting, so I might get one of them. I skipped over Ruby/Sapphire because they just didn't look that interesting to me, but with all the improvements being made in these versions, this looks like a good time to jump back into the series.

Why do they always release Pokemon games on March? I think Fr/Lg and Ru/Sa were released that month too.

End of the fiscal year, I believe. It's an easy way to generate a lot of cash before March 31.