Sorry. Diamond and Pearl are DS games. They won't work on a GBA/SP. It looks like you can trade your old Pokémon from the GBA games though.

It's not all bad news though, since the price for the older model DS should (or will) drop and it's backwards compatible so you can still play GBA/GBC games along with DS games.

actually GBC games don't even fit into the DS, I tried to play Zelda Oracle of Ages on my DS but it is too big for the slot

Well, looks like I stuck my damn foot in my mouth. I took the backwards compatibility thing a bit too far (not to mention GB and GBC cartridges have different voltage requirements when compared to GBA or DS titles).


Anyway, back to the subject of pokemon. This new trio will make the first part of the game interesting, or at least more so than the previous titles. We'll see more pokemon sooner of types that you normally see towards the end that have already evolved, and it should also give the gyms a new twist.

But..won't that just make your pokemon powerful..in just the beginning? And I also wonder what gym types the gym leaders will have. Dammit, so many questions, so little information.

Obviously, as usually is the case, one starter will be better suited for early Gym battling than the others. The early Gym structure will fall into place with whichever starter the production team wants to be better. In the first and fourth series it was Bulbasaur, with Squirtle being next. In G/S/C it was Cyndaquil, with Totodile being next. In Ruby and Sapphire, Treecko and Mudkip were about tied, unusually, at least in terms of talking about the first three gyms. In any case, there's always one of the three that is more challenging to raise. In Diamond and Pearl, I predict this to be either the Fighting or Dark starter.

Not to mention the pokemon types in the early areas could be switched from the typical normal and flying types to others in order to avoid having the starters run them over.

New info on the starters, straight from Serebii.net

With the Pokemon world, I've always felt there were a certain amount of things that I would rightly be able to expect of the games.

One of these is that I thought you should be able to run diagonally. You can in Pokemon Ranger, and I really think the Pokemon world would benefit from free movement.

But you know what, I'd be ok with not running diagonal, if it weren't for two particular issues: The biggest being that you are actually able to run into Pokemon without moving at all. That's right. By simply turning your character in place, you can run into Pokemon. This is made more problematic when you run into Pokemon battles SO OFTEN. Seriously, do not make it possible to run into a Pokemon battle in the next step. This has happened to me more than a couple times. If Pokemon appeared on the world map (Like in Ranger or in games like Xenosaga or Grandia III) then there would be a Pokemon every three steps over.


One of the other issues is animated battle sprites.

Now, I know I mentioned this before. And I understand that it is quite a bit of work. But the reality is that the animations don't have to be complex. Three frames for "waiting" movement. One frame for two types of attacks. One frame for hurt animation. I mean, just look at Golden Sun. They have plenty of enemies, and (if I recall correctly) each of them has three "waiting" frames, two types of attack frames (one for physical attack, one for magic or item) and "hurt" frames. And all of these frames are done for both the back and the front, meaning there are twice the frames for each monster.


But, griping aside, this version seems the most promising. This might actually be my first Pokemon game purchase since Red (although together with my brother, we have Blue, (2)Silver(s), Crystal, (2)Stadium 1(s) & 2, Ruby, and Pinball, all acquired through either being given them or traded for. I used to have Yellow but it got stolen).

I hope that along with the re-inculsion of night and day cycle, that they have more environmental graphics that really immerse you into the world, like the snow in the trailer, or the ash in the Ruby and Sapphire games. I mean, one of the biggest things about the Pokemon games was that you were "traveling the world". And anything that makes the "world" more enjoyable, makes the gameplay experience more enjoyable.



And for all those who were saying things like "Well I think it's better that Wi-fi has friend codes because the likelihood of something-bad-happening/running-into-haxor-strangers", those are ridiculous claims.

Just because there is online wi-fi enabled for random opponents, doesn't mean that you can no longer only play with/against friends. Look at Metroid Prime. Online play for random opponents is enabled, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to play it. You can always go into the rival room and play against your friends.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57...terPokemon.jpg

So, what do ya'll think? Looks pretty legit to me, but what was said about one of their names is intriguing...

But it's strange, to me, the middle "pokemon" seems the only "cute" one, the other two aren't that crash hot. And by the way, let's say they are legit, which one is which element..?

I'd say the top is fighting, the middle is dark and the third is psychic.

If they're real, I'm gonna be pissed off. Those things look motherfucking stupid.

All you'd need to do is look at the other art for Diamond/Pearl. Things like Buizeru, Lucario and so on don't look like that. Maybe it's because these might be starters, but they look unbelievably plain. All have the same round-ish look to them and a a general half-assed look.

I agree with both of you, I really dislike the first and third ones. But I must say I like the simple design of the supposed dark one.

Is there any word yet on how many Pokémon will be included in the games? I seriously doubt all of them will be in there, though that would be nice, but I'd really like some kind of estimation.

Will any pokemon from past games be involved??

This is answering both of the above posts: We'll likely see the same thing we've seen before. Most pokemon from the previous games will be available in both, with a few notables being available in one or the other only (example: Sandshrew, Oddish, Bellsprout, etc..). Won't this bring up the number of total pokemon to ~450ish?

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...4684110426.jpg

More Pokemon from the rumor mill... BUT these actually look real unlike those lame ones from before.

I can't wait to do a Mono Dark type run.

We get a rhino, a kangaroo, and some Hoothoot-Eevee thing? At least these beasts seem somewhat normal.
Of course there will be. I mean, I already know that there's going to be a baby Mr. Mime and an evolved form for Sneasel. (I think there was something else, too...)

Wow, those are believable, and look good enough that I think I'd be happy to play any of them. I really hope they are real.

- WraithTwo -

They look nice. I'm assuming kangaroo=fighting, rhino=pshychic and weird-ass thing=dark..? Anyway, they're much more likeable than the ones I posted earlier :) My favourite would be the weird-ass thing. I...just can't describe it. Like Acro-nym said, it looks a bit like a Hoothoot cross Eevee.

Scans showing the 3 starters have shown up on the internet. Looks like they stuck to the F/W/G combo of old. Oh, and the evolutions of Electabuzz and Roselia have been revealed as well. From left to right, here are there names: Naetoru, Hikozaru & Bocchama.

http://img131.imagevenue.com/img.php...9996_447lo.jpg

http://img108.imagevenue.com/img.php...1580_500lo.jpg

http://img141.imagevenue.com/img.php...7577_308lo.jpg

Blah. I only like the look of the Water type. Penguin lovers finally get their wish. So far I am not thrilled with any of the new monsters they've shown so far. Game Freak's sure run out of ideas.

Digimon for the win.

Well, I'll wait and see what the other pokemon look like before I come to any conclusions on their appearances. All I'm hoping for is pokemon that don't look as unbelievably bland as those in R/S/E.

Fire Monkey FTW! I love monkeys, and I love fire type pokemon, so this is like a win/win situation for me. I could care less for the other two (though if I had to choose, I would pick the water type over the grass type).

Yeah, a lot of folks like the fire monkey and others just want to use it to get the inevitable King Kong final evolution.

The Grass one looks interesting only because I immediately thought, "Ooh! They've crossed Chikorita and Squirtle!" If this one's anything like the last Grass starter...