REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Coming off the record-breaking popularity of the Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version video games, Nintendo of America Inc. announced today that two new Pokémon titles, Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2, are coming to North America in 2012. Fans can anticipate plenty of new surprises when the games launch this fall.
Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2 will be available for the Nintendo DS family of systems. The games can also be played in 2D on Nintendo 3DS systems. More game details will be announced throughout the year. For more information and a first look at new character art of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem from Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2, visit www.pokemon.com.
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Fall? Maybe some day we'll get them around the same time Japan does....Maybe.
Wow, Nintendo's actually releasing a new DS title. Eh, I guess they figure they can get a gazillion more dollars off of what's basically Pokemon Black/White before making an exclusive 3DS Pokemon. I just wonder why they're calling it Version 2 instead of Pokemon Grey.
Wait .... it makes sense that this game is on ds in may, but to be realese this fall...aka Christmas for the ds is weird... I mean the 3ds will almost be 2 at that point
So soon? Wow! O_O
Actually people are reading it wrong. Just as it's called "Black 2 and White 2" and japan, it should be more or less read as "Pokemon Black Version : 2 and Pokemon White Version : 2". Not version 2, I do believe they're being marketed as sequels to black and white, not just new version but I could be wrong.
... Perhaps if we were a japanese-speaking country.
A lot of Nintendo's other franchises have seen simultaneous release in other countries. Pokemon games are the only ones that we have to wait 6 months for.
You're not serious, right?
There's hardly any text in things like Zelda or Mario. Otherwise, yes, there's plenty of a wait. Golden Sun 2 took about 9-ish months. Sin & Punishment 2 took 8-ish. Earthbound took about the same, as did Rhythm Heaven Fever. Professor Layton and the Last Specter took 23 and Inazuma Eleven 2 took 27, but those aren't quite as much Nintendo's fault since they're publishing them for Level-5.
In other news, there's also the famed example of Xenoblade and The Last Story.
Basically everything other than Mario and Zelda get shafted a bit, but you have to realize that Pokemon has a metric shovel of text to translate. They're presumably starting a lot earlier this time and trying to translate it while the game is in development.
I haven't even played Black 1 (or White 1) yet. Guess I'll have to do that now!
(note: For the record, I am referring to more recent major game releases, and that is why I left out Golden Sun 2 and Earthbound. I also don't consider Rhythm Heaven or Sin and Punishment to be a major release, they don't even compare to releases like Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon)
Games like Super Paper Mario and the Legend of Zelda have a lot of text in them, and it is completely unfair to compare the two to games like Super Mario Bros. (which has little to none). Zelda is very story driven and is completely done by text. Professor Layton is behind on schedule because of the first game's initial release being a year after it's Japanese counterpart(for a game like that there are multiple reasons for it to take so long since it was a new franchise), and they are not going to release a couple games quickly just to catch up with Japanese releases. (Also, it's made by Level-5, and I was referring to actual Nintendo releases).
Also, Xenoblade and Last Story are different cases. There was originally no plans to bring them here, it was fan reaction that made them decide to bring them to the states.
Main entries like Mario and Zelda do get special treatment, but a major release (that sells a lot) like Pokemon is 100% able to be translated and released simultaneously regardless of the amount of text in it. For instance, I hate to use an outside company as an example....but, Square Enix had Final Fantasy XIII translated, voice acting recorded, and the character model's mouths synced to english dub within time for it to be ready for a simultaneous release. How? They were having the game translated while they were still working on it, and recorded voice acting while they were recording voice acting. It's not hard, or impossible for them to have a simultaneous release for Pokemon (which has much less to translate/do for the translation process). Am I saying that it's going to happen? No. I realize that a lot of it has to do with scheduling with where the cartoon is (and also movies) here, and that also there is a lot to do in the translation process....but with every release I'm always hopeful. I always wish that one day they would release them closer together then what they do now, and that's why I said "maybe some day".
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