Just a quick heads-up that according to the official facebook page we can be expecting a bit more news tomorrow, September 4th! This will be one of the last news updates before the offiical game release, but my bet is that it will be detailing the ins and outs of Pokemon Amie.
Its another Pokemon Direct, and considering the first one gave us the announcement of the games and the very first look, it could potentially have some big details announced. It airs at noon tomorrow UK time.
They do like to surprise us with these Directs, so I'm kinda hoping they announce that mystery HD game at the end, or possibly Pokémon Tretta getting localized as that's gotten a few recent US ratings too.... :3
Next announcement: Half-life 3 confirmed. Just watch
I want to see a couple more Pokémon. I am terribly impatient.
I'm curious to see the starter evos... But this close to the release of the game, it's unclear if we'll see them before release at all.
So far there's Pokebank, which is like Pokemon Cloud which confirms transferring too. But it does have an annual fee, if anyone saw at the bottom.
Mega Blastoise
Mega Charizard
Mega Venasaur.
Digivolving kanto starters...memories tainted forever.
Special edition 3DSs coming on the 27th too (The blue one Japan got and a red variation as well!).
Not much today, but interesting none the less...
A notable thing was, one of them does drop the comment; "I'm looking forward to seeing how all Pokemon Mega-Evolve."
I might not have quoted it perfectly, it was a live stream, but it was something along those lines. However, it hasn't been out and out confirmed all Pokemon have mega-evolves.
PokeBank is a little bit of excitement but also I don't want to pay something annually on top of everything else Pokemon takes from me. x_x
Mega Evolutions of Kanto starters look pretty alright. Digging Blastoise especially. Charizard looks a bit more Dragon-esque. I could not be more excited for these games!
Note Charizard is still Fire/Flying (Pokemon.com), it gets drought and its Sp. Atk is improved.
Venasaur's deffences improve and it gets Thick Fat.
Blastoise gets Mega Launcher so moves like Dark Pulse and Water Pulse become even stronger.
PokeTransfer is free
PokeBank isn't, but has a free trial anyhow.
There's also a new video up.
So you'll now need to buy PokeBank to transfer Pokemon between generations now.
That's going to be a nice way for them to make some extra money. Especially when certain Pokemon won't be easily available. All those legendaries? Oh, just pay some money each month to transfer them...
With how there are already faked alternatives for the GTS (and giveaways through them), I wouldn't be surprised if the PokeBank will be emulated in a similar way, at least to allow generation transfer. Can't say I'd blame anyone who'd try.
Quote from: Sappy on September 04, 2013, 12:23
A notable thing was, one of them does drop the comment; "I'm looking forward to seeing how all Pokemon Mega-Evolve."
I might not have quoted it perfectly, it was a live stream, but it was something along those lines. However, it hasn't been out and out confirmed all Pokemon have mega-evolves.
It be quite the task designing new Mega forms for all current Pokemon AND designing all the new Mon at the same time as well. True, some designs are simple but you still need to work out stat boosts and new abilities for every single one. Could happen, but yeah.
Oh well, it'll ultimately pay off when the Pokemon Centers in Japan sell Mega Evolution plushies soon.... XD
Quote from: Joeno on September 04, 2013, 12:36
So you'll now need to buy PokeBank to transfer Pokemon between generations now.
Nope, Poketransfer is a separate thing to download and is free. Source: Pokemon website.
Charizard not gaining Dragon type is a bit disappointing, really. But Drought? Ugh... they're going the wrong way with this... we're going to have even more weather wars this coming generation. OTL
Even so! I am bouncing off the walls with all of this new excitement! With 2 starters PLUS Torchic, I seem to have all of the best options! But... which 2 to pick? D:
Quote from: Sappy on September 04, 2013, 12:43
Nope, Poketransfer is a separate thing to download and is free. Source: Pokemon website.
Nope, PokeTransfer requires you to download PokeBank and uses the latter to transfer the Pokemon. To quote the official site:
QuoteWhen you download Pokémon Bank, you can also download the linked application Poké Transporter! When you insert a Pokémon Black Version, Pokémon White Version, Pokémon Black Version 2, or Pokémon White Version 2 Game Card into a Nintendo 3DS system, you'll be able to use Poké Transporter to transfer Pokémon from these games into their own online Boxes. Then, you can easily transfer those Pokémon into Pokémon X and Pokémon Y using Pokémon Bank!
They brought back the first gen starter Pokémon- I cannot believe that we are getting TWO starters!
Quote from: Joe_Pokemon2010- DE~NIS! DE~NIS! on September 04, 2013, 12:51
They brought back the first gen starter Pokémon- I cannot believe that we are getting TWO starters!
3 if you count the event Torchic.
Considering this is the 6th gen and you can have 6 Party Pokemon, I wonder if we'll run into the other starters (Johto, Sinnoh, Unova) along the way..... XD
Quote from: Angelic Lapras King on September 04, 2013, 12:55
3 if you count the event Torchic.
Considering this is the 6th gen and you can have 6 Party Pokemon, I wonder if we'll run into the other starters (Johto, Sinnoh, Unova) along the way..... XD
Two starters are better than one. And I can say that with pride. Hope they also allow us to choose a third starter. How about Mega Feraligatr?
Quote from: Joeno on September 04, 2013, 12:50
Nope, PokeTransfer requires you to download PokeBank and uses the latter to transfer the Pokemon. To quote the official site:
Yeah, my bad. I reread it and was like; "Oh wait, you need to download both."
However, an idea is you get a free trial of Pokemon Bank so you could transfer any Pokemon you wanted during that trial. Which when you first get Poke Transporter most players would immediately transfer quite a batch of Pokemon over.
Obviously, some people like the ability of constantly having to transfer Pokemon for whatever reasons... shiny chaining in D/P is the first one that comes to my mind or Join Avenue.
I also like the idea it doesn't look like there's a poor minigame to go with PokeTransporter.
... Ewwwww, /blugh/. Is this really the way Nintendo is moving? x_____________________________x Damnit, this is the first bit of news I'm disappointed with. Though maybe I shouldn't complain too bad... If they have a free trial you should at least be able to switch your Pokemon over to your X/Y cartridge without having to pay for it. Still... And I don't really like these Mega Evolutions, apart from Blastoise. Maybe they'll grow on me... =/
I guess it's also possible that once the free trial of Pokebank runs out, maybe you'll still be able to use PokeTransfer and it's just a way of bribing people into trying it out so they might start paying for it?
Literally it's 500 yen which equates to like £3.23 or something. It's not like it's £30 or something ridiculous. It sounds literally like a maintenance fee as it should be.
Yeah, but that's paid regularly, and it's gonna stack up. =/ I really don't like 'Pay-Monthly' things... It's a system designed to keep extrapolating money out of people, and the more the system moves in that way, the more suspicious I become of it.
Plus, I only rarely transfer 'mons over, so I don't want to be paying for a service the whole time which I barely use. There are very few people who REGULARLY want to transfer Pokemon over in fact, so... The subscription based method of paying makes me unhappy. I'm quite sure they could have managed Poketransfer without people having to pay for it, and without even needing to use some cloud-type system that would need maintainance in the first place.
It's an annual fee, which means yearly. So like... $3-4 a year. That doesn't sound bad at all. I understand the frustration, but I'm just clearing up that it's not really 'regular' or monthly.
It's still money you're paying for a system that could be handled locally (PokeTransfer gets the Pokemon from your gen V game, stores them on your SD card, then loads them into your gen VI game).
It'd be simpler to implement that way too, as all the core functionality (reading and writing) is already present in these apps, you just wouldn't need the online system.
Considering you're already paying £30-£40 for the game, putting on an additional £2-£3 per year just to transfer at will seems a bit much to ask.
Absolutely, I'm not really taking much of a stance here, as I can see the pros and cons of it, especially considering how it will effect future generations of Pokemon, but I'm trying to clarify that it's not a monthly thing, and that the fee is relatively manageable for most people.
You could always trade with friends via B/W/B2/W2, have them transfer them over, and then send 'em over to your X/Y game. Unless they shut down the GTS for 5th gen, which I sort of vaguely recall hearing something about a few moths ago, but can't quite recall.
Hopefully the transfer thing isn't in any way connected to the subscription - I can get it with the free trial and never touch the box thing again. As long as they don't intentionally lower current storage to force us to use theirs, always the problem when they start adding paid features.
I'm starting to hate mevo's slightly less, blastoise attacking with it's mouth when it has 3 cannons is just stupid though.
Cheesed off that you have to pay for Pokemon Bank. Don't you have enough of my money Gamefreak/Pokemon franchise?!?!
Also: definitely picking Chespin and Squirtle... I know if I pick Charmander I'll end up ditching it... I always do.
Quote from: Wolstenholme on September 04, 2013, 13:43
Also: definitely picking Chespin and Squirtle... I know if I pick Charmander I'll end up ditching it... I always do.
You're just like that evil man from the Anime episode that left his charmander to die in the rain! :(
RM002 - PokeTransfer IS related to the subscription. It doesn't transfer the gen V Pokemon to the game, it only transfers it to your PokeBank boxes. You can transfer during the trial and be okay, but if you want to use it later (for example for specific TM and move tutor moves, or gen IV shiny chaining) you'll need to get the subscription.
I believe gen 5 GTS has been announced to be closed down around the same time as Pokemon Bank being released.
Which is totally a coincidence, I'm sure.
Annual cost, by the way, is 500 yen, which is apparently $5 a year. COnsidering the usual markup on these things, I wouldn't be surprised if we're looking at £4 a year for us.
There's also the principle of the whole thing. Turning what is an essential feature of the game for a lot of people - taking their favourites with them - into a paid option, feels (no matter what the cost) sleazy and the sort of thing you'd expect of lesser companies, especially when it's clear the reason to do it isn't technical. It can be done without the online element, but they nevertheless force you to go through their paid service. Even if they charged a one-time fee for the PokeTransfer, it'd be a cheaper way that would last a lot longer - I doubt it'll be available when they're thinking about gen VII.
It's also one of those bad precedents. Right now it's just transferring Pokemon, but it seems to be the sort of lead-in that'll go to other areas of the game. If the GTS won't run through PokeBank now, it probably will in a future system ("see how much easier it is when you can arrange it all online") and online battling would fall into the same category.
It's one thing to expand your options through payment (in this case, more box space). It's another to lock what's seen as standard functionality behind it.
Well that's crap. They could do the dream world for free but not this?
There's a reason this feels cheap.
(For the record - average cost per user - $0.01 per year server storage cost max, double that possible to include access. Add a handful of server technicians and you're looking at a cost, to them, of about $0.10 per user. Everything else would be pure profit.)
(And if it's anything like their other online services, it will flat out refuse to work for a day per week due to 'maintenance'. Never mind that with any halfway decent server architecture, you should easily swap out servers to do it on while increasing service robustness at the same time.)
(No, I don't have much faith in this being value for money in the first place)
I also thought an interesting thing is Pokemon Bank is out till December 25th in Japan, I'm assuming it'll be announced same time globally. However, this means you can't transfer till that time. What's everyone's thoughts on that? It also gives people a chance to get good teams on X and Y, before putting their favorites on. Something which I appreciate since you get a feel of the new Pokemon on X and Y.
I think people wouldn't mind the fee if Pokemon Bank was a separate feature that you only use for storage. It's more the fact PokeTransporter comes with it too.
I think the news is pretty awesome. Can't say I'm surprised by the Kanto mega evolutions, but it's good to know that yet again - the leak was correct. So I think this confirms Fairy's Dragon immunity and another Mewtwo form.
The annual fee doesn't bother me too much, it's super cheap and there's a free trial up until the 31st of January which should be more than enough time to transfer across any Pokemon from previous games I want to keep.
So I will apparently have about 3 months to gather all Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova Pokemon and prepare to send them over to XY en masse? Challenge accepted.
This irks me that we have to pay to transfer. It may well end up being more money to do something so I don't cut off my 5th/4th/3rd Gen games from the current gen. Hopefully this will be a one off until they move to a new console.
But what? We can use TWO starters plus Torchic?!? That'll be Froakie, MegaVenu and Torchic. Right, Mudkip/Treecko events next, and then we have a 3 sets to pick FWG cores from...*rubs hands*
This does raise the issue of overlapping starters. I mean, I love Froakie but Squirtle was my first ever! But then I've chose Squirtle many times now so maybe it'd be wise to go for Froakie and Bulba.
I very much want to see what mega-typhlosion looks like.
Concerning Pokemon Bank, Joeno's hit all the major points, but it is worth it to note that a 'Free-Trial' is a marketing technique. Humans tend to have a difficult time giving up something they possess, even if the item doesn't have much value, or they would gain more by giving up the item than by holding onto it.
So, the free trial method introduces prospective customers to a product, and then once you've become accustom to it, you're more willing to pay for the product to avoid losing the product. It's gonna be hard to completely give up transferring your Pokemon, even more so if your introduced to the Bank for a short period of time.
I think it's worth mentioning that a completely new Pokemon was spotted briefly in the video:
(http://www.blocked.net/direct98.jpg)
Utack and I agree that it seems to be an alpaca.
That's awesome, looks nice. Electric Absol almost.
I personally wouldn't be surprised if they did not want to introduce paid DLC at all. Every interview I have read Masuda and co have stated that they would like to avoid it and did not agree with players paying for DLC. They said they weren't sure but were exploring their options in the roundtable and said they hoped nobody was going to ask them about it.
My guess is that either financial push has come to shove or there is some kind of deal going on with Nintendo. As far as I'm aware Nintendo have been losing a lot of money lately. It might be a requirement for GameFreak to include some kind of paid DLC and this is their method to do so. For such a 'money grabbing' technique they sure are offering it for the bare minimum - it's a very small amount PER YEAR, it's not going to be much use to most people once they've transferred within the free-trial period so there is a huge loss in userbase there, not to mention that the feature isn't even necessary, not to mention they know this will be exploited by people who set up their own servers. Honestly I think they're doing the community a service by not allowing people to transfer over their hacked Pokemon.
I don't know, I just don't really believe these 'OMGZ GAME FREAK WANTS TO STEAL OUR $$$' comments, all evidence has pointed towards the fact that this is not something they particularly care about. I think if they were that greedy they wouldn't be providing free apps that allow you to watch all of the Pokemon TV anime episodes for nothing.
Mega Blastoise is looking kinda sweet
It really is! It's my favorite of the three, but it's a shame it gets such a crap ability. At least, with the current moves it has. I can't imagine it'd boost Water Pulse enough to make it viable over Scald or Hydro Pump.
I've decided to go Mega Blaziken, Venusaur, Froakie when I get Y. :3
I've always felt that (with maybe a few exceptions I don't recall) my final team/bros feel like a part of the game in which I've raised them, so I'd have no use for Pokemon Bank.* If I did, though, I really don't think the fee is that big a deal, and some people are jumping to some pretty heavy conclusions that might not even happen.
*Until I get Wi-Fi to work again, I wouldn't be able to use it even if I wanted to. Not sure if I'll be able to get that Torchic in time either :c
As for the Mega starters, I like them all, but Blastoise is clearly the coolest(looking). It seems like Froakie and Bulbasaur is a popular combo, and that's what I'm going for too. Everything else, I'll just have to wing it like always.
Interesting that charizard gets drought. Definitely choosing Chespin and sorry bulba but i already have a grass type so i will choose squirtle. He has the coolest mega evolution too
I'm gonna be choosing Froakie and Bulbasaur. I never did use Bulbasaur in R/B or FR/LG so now is the time.
^That's basically my situation, too. Well okay, an old acquaintance did trade me a Bulbasaur which I raised to Venusaur, but after that I never really used it, so I hope to change that with my own Bulbasaur.
I haven't used Venusaur since the days of Yellow Version where you got all three starters, so this will be interesting. Apparently it doesn't get any Poison attacks via level-up in the current generations aside from Poisonpowder, so it'll be heavily reliant on TMs to have type coverage.
^Yeah, I noticed that myself. Also seems like all its (damage-dealing) level-up attacks are physical until it evolves, which is a pain because its Sp.ATK is higher... and even then Venusaur learns Petal Dance sooner than Solar Beam. Unless X and Y change its learnset down the road (which could be fun!) TMs are the safest bet.
Quote from: Joeno on September 04, 2013, 13:45
Annual cost, by the way, is 500 yen, which is apparently $5 a year. COnsidering the usual markup on these things, I wouldn't be surprised if we're looking at £4 a year for us.
I believe that for us Australians Pokémon Bank would cost over $7 a year, given that like everything else for sale in Australia, this will get marked up greatly.