HGSS Megaspeculation Thread

[Firestorm]

August 14th, 2009
Official NA/EU Announcement:

Two New Pokémon Games Announced for Nintendo DS

Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version to Hit United States and Europe in Spring 2010

In Tribute to Legions of Pokémon Fans Worldwide, Announcement Kicked Off Pokémon World Championships

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo of America Inc. revealed today that Pokémon™ HeartGold Version and Pokémon™ SoulSilver Version for the Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems will be released in spring 2010 in the United States and Europe. These newest entries for the best-selling video game franchise were announced amid the biggest Pokémon video game event of the year and in front of the top Pokémon video game and trading card game players in the world at the 2009 Pokémon World Championships.

Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version return players to the scenic Johto region first introduced in the beloved original Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver games nearly a decade ago. The richly detailed adventure of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver is now enhanced for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems with updated graphics and sound, as well as new touch-screen features and a host of surprises. Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version bring dozens of Pokémon characters back into the limelight for a new Pokémon generation – and longtime fans – to catch, train and battle.

“Announcing these much-anticipated game launches at The Pokémon World Championships allows us to give the news directly to the legions of fans who represent the true heart and soul of Pokémon,” said J.C. Smith, The Pokémon Company International’s director of marketing, who made the announcement on stage to kick off the 2009 Pokémon World Championships. “We want to thank these loyal fans by revealing the details to them first.”

The launch of Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version follows the incredible launch of Pokémon Platinum Version, which has sold more than 5.66 million copies worldwide to date.

Pokémon is one of the top children’s franchises in history. The Pokémon video game series has sold more than 193 million units worldwide since its inception 13 years ago. Additionally, Pokémon is the No. 1 collectible trading card game of all time and has shown no sign of slowing down. It boasts 374 percent sales growth in the United States alone since 2005, and is sold in more than 30 countries across the globe. Other extensions of the property include 12 seasons of the animated television series, which in 2009 will be broadcast in as many as 153 countries in more than 25 languages. Pokémon films and DVDs continue to reach fans in amazing numbers, ranking at the top of the box office in Japan.

For more information about Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version, visit www.Pokemon.com.

------------------

May 7th, 2009
Pokemon Heart Gold and and Pokemon Soul Silver will be coming to Nintendo DS in Japan this Fall 09
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/info/game/g090508_01.html

May 10th, 2009
Screenshots have been released. Check 'em out on PokeBeach. That's right! That's Chikorita following around Gold.

May 12th, 2009
Anyway, this seems to be the only information confirmed in Coro Coro:
- screens show Cynadquil following the character outside of the first town as well
- ability to play as a female character (not Crystal, newly designed)
- I see a Pichu beside the main character without a starter around so maybe you CAN have a non-starter following you? it seems to be a story-like sequence though as he's talking to another, different shade of yellow, Pichu (oh god please let me have a Charmander follow me)
- Coro Coro needs to fire their graphic designer / layout designer
- Pans of area shown when you enter, much like in Fire Red and Leaf Green

June 12th, 2009
It's been a month so I figured I should update with two pieces of info at least. You can have any Pokemon follow you it looks like. Steelix is shown following you arround so it stands to reason all 493 Pokemon can. The game will come with a pedometer that you can put your Pokemon onto. It will gain experience as you walk more. Think of it like that Pokemon Pikachu toy from eons ago.

The box art was revealed this week:

Original Topic:

Pokemon Sunday, which appears to be a Pokemon variety show in Japan, announced at the end of their episode today that a major Pokemon announcement was coming at the end of the show next week. It will be a worldwide exclusive. CoroCoro and Nintendo Dream magazines, which have fairly large ties to the Pokemon franchise, say they'll have a big announcement in store for us next week as well. Both mags will hit stores after Pokemon Sunday airs.

Why does this signal Gold/Silver Remakes? If you look at the picture above, you'll see that the brought down two large party balls coloured gold and silver for the announcement segment.

Nintendo wouldn't be that cruel, would they? Topic will be updated once more information is available.

Pokemon Sunday finishes at 8:30 AM on May 10th in Japan (GMT+8). That is 4:30 PM on May 9th Pacific (GMT-8).

Sources:
http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Major_Pok%C3%A9mon_game_to_be_announced_this_month
http://pocketmonsters.net/news.php?action=article&articleid=515

Update #1: A certain person who has a history of being both right and wrong about leaks has said that this is in fact a Gold/Silver remake. He says there are rumblings about a new Battle Revolution style game for Wii to be announced at E3 but isn't sure of that. Take with a grain of salt.

Update #2: Naxte points out that they also put up two blurry posters, coloured gold and silver, that represent the games to be announced.

Update #3
Further Confirmation from the blog of Alex Lucard who works for Pokemon Beckett Collector in the US and The Pokemon Company in Japan.

http://diehardgamefan.com/2009/05/04/pokemon-a-return-to-johto/
May 4th, 2009
- will not be called DuskGold/DawnSilver, nor WhiteGold / MoonSilver
- chances are it'll hit Japan this November
- not a spinoff
- two games
- remakes

http://diehardgamefan.com/2009/03/27/pokemon-week-best-pokemon-game-ever/
March 27th, 2009
"Years ago when I did my “Top 30 RPG Countdown” The second generation of Pokemon games made it all the way up into the top five. Perhaps, PERHAPS sometime in 2009 (Say, May 10th, 2009), we’ll get to return to Johto in one form or another."

Update #4
Apparently the "May 10th" part of his March post was editted in later as discovered by Serebii. Serebii also points out the following:

Sorry, but you all know how I hate the spread of misinformation.

However, that said, in September there are going to be re-releases of figures for the Johto Starters in Japan. Last time this happened was January 04 with the Kanto starters. We all know what came out then ;)

 

[Firestorm]

It may be the announcement of a U.S. date for the new Dungeon Explorers game or some such nonsense. I am really hoping that it is a G/S remake, though.

Announcing the US release date on a Japanese TV show and Japanese magazines that aren't available in the US sounds a tad improbable.

 

[Firestorm]

I'd love a remake since i loved g/s but this close to platinum? i doubt it

Ruby/Sapphire: 2003 (JP: 2002)
Fire Red/Leaf Green: 2004
Emerald: 2005 (JP: 2004)

Diamond/Pearl: 2007 (JP: 2006)
Platinum: 2009 (JP: 2008)
Adjective Gold/Adjective Silver: 2010? (JP: 2009?)

Damn. Nintendo did two Pokemon games for Japan in 2004 ._.

 

[Firestorm]

If Nintendo wanted to stay consistent, we wouldn't have a remake until Generation 6. One remake every 3 generations makes more sense, because by the quoted logic we'd have a RSE remake Generation 5. Of course, neither the 3 generation rule or the RSE Gen 5 remake make sense, which leads to my point; there is no consistancy, pattern, or schedule that they follow. Don't try to make assumptions based on that.

Not really as then they'd be losing out on lots and lots of money and they'd be getting waaay ahead of themselves. If they just remake GS this generation, RSE next generation, etc, they could make twice as much money as they made in the RBY and GSC days! It's all about the money. Remember that instead of growing with the fans, Nintendo likes to market Pokemon at the same age group of elementary school children at all times. For a lot of people, Diamond/Pearl is the equivalent of Red/Blue for a lot of us. In 10 years? Diamond / Pearl is going to be a goldmine for them when they remake it on the DS's successor's successor.

 

[BlueCookies]

I don't think I would really want a G/S remake too much. What made G/S so much fun for myself and I imagine this is true for most other people was that the ingame was actually fun. However, the remake will most likely tarnish the "epicness" the original G/S games had. I'm sure I'm not the only one who goes back and plays through G/S/C once every one or two years. Back when most of us played G/S/C we probably didn't know much about competitive Pokemon and just enjoyed the ingame. But since all of us on Smogon are skilled now, the ingame probably won't be as enjoyable. With that said, I won't be upset if they made a G/S remake, but I'm just not rooting for it.

Instead I hope they make a new Wii game. PBR was a total failure so I'm hoping they make the game in one of two ways. One way is to make the game similar to the Stadium games where you fight through the gyms, elite 4, and all the diffferent cups and have rental Pokemon for all pokemon, not only ones like Haunter, the starters, Bibarel, and whatever else PBR had. Number two is to make the game like Colosseum and XD. I really enjoyed how the entire storyline was filled with double battles. I also thought the charactes were pretty cool(Mirror B in particular, lol). However, I hope they combine the two games since I loved how challenging Colosseum was but I loved how there were a lot of different pokemon in XD and how they all knew special moves. Of course I hope both of these games have wifi.

 

[Naxte]

Looking at the Pokemon Sunday video, in addition to the Gold and Silver balls used to make an announcement, at the end of the section, there also appear to be two posters on easels in the background that are blurred out (presumably of the to-be-announced games), with one appearing gold and the other silver:
http://www.filb.de/1042

So, things are definitely pointing towards G/S remakes. If for some reasons the colors turn out to just be misleading though, we do at least now know it's a pair of games, so that eliminates all the PBR 2 stuff and such as possibilities.

Edit: Here's a scrennshot of the posters:

 

[Benjamin Breeg]

Benjamin you can simply download an emulator online. It is free and virtually hassle free.

I still do believe that it will be a "remake" of Pokemon Platnuim.

I have done this, but playing on my computer is simply not the same as playing it on my Game Boy.

 

[Seriin]

While GSC is what I'm hoping for (Celebi access, yes please) I think it is more likely to be a sequel to PBR.

There's a lot of room for improvement with that. New models (make the pokemon not look like poo), more fluidity, consistant effects. PBR has SR present all the time, but rain disappears during attacks. It was a rushed game.

I just really really really do not want Pokemon Ranger 3.


EDIT: After watching the video from the link that Naxte posted, I take back my leaning towards PBR2. The pessimist in me still says PBR2, and the "everyone else is evil" in me says Ranger 3. I hope I am wrong.

 

[Naxte]

^Nah, look a few posts up, at my latest post; it's definitely a pair of games that are being released, so it's not a PBR sequel.

 

[Enemi]

All the clues apparantly hint at G/S remakes. The gold and silver balls and the two pictures on the easels from the above post. Say the blurred out pictures on the easels do represent two games, has the thought occured to anyone that they might be brand new games with a new hero and region to explore. I know this would be breaking the tradition of releasing only one generation per handheld system, but it is a possibility.

 

[Xaqwais]

I do think the biggest hint is the fact that it's 2 games. That rules out so much right there.

OMG! What if it's a GS remake for Wii![/sarcasm]

That wouldn't be that bad, but just not right.

 

[Mr.Pizzle]

IMO things lean to a new home console pokemon game than a G/S/C remake, but both would be good XD

 

[viperGTS]

Thanks for the info, im hoping its a G/S remake.

 

[Baldafor]

I understand everyone's desire for a GSC remake, but I have been waiting years for another decent console game to come out. I want an actual Wii RPG Pokemon that I can actually play at home on my TV!

Hasn't anyone else wanted that? On a console where it's possible to, like, play online similar to an MMO? Like join a battle room or something and walk around and battle people? Maybe even trade and stuff?

Or does no one else have a Wii?

 

[B-Lulz]

All the clues apparantly hint at G/S remakes. The gold and silver balls and the two pictures on the easels from the above post. Say the blurred out pictures on the easels do represent two games, has the thought occured to anyone that they might be brand new games with a new hero and region to explore. I know this would be breaking the tradition of releasing only one generation per handheld system, but it is a possibility.

RBY and GSC were on the same system, you have a point however.

 

[Syberia]

To be fair, GSC utilized the color functions of GBC while RBY did not.

 

[Son_of_Shadoo]

Oh Jesus. Please let this be true. If not, I'm jumping off the nearest bridge.

 

[Redpebbles]

I reckon its true, there is a lot more evidence besides the balloons though.

 

[BlueAizu]

A Gold/Silver remake would be nice, but I really want to see them try something new with the franchise. It's not that I don't enjoy the game at all; it's just that in-game is too tedious for me since it just feels like I've been doing the same thing for years now (because I was doing it for years), and I cheated in Platinum just to get to the new features in post-game for that reason.

Pokémon Battle Revolution 2 wouldn't be such an unwelcome idea, either; they've just got to make it more like Pokémon Stadium 2 so it'll be more fun to connect and play (and because I'm sick of not being able to use items and ending up using pitiful rentals instead of my own Pokémon), complete with a more fleshed out online mode.

 

[Shatterpoint]

I think a G/S remake would be incredible, I enjoyed the 1st and 2nd generation of Pokemon games the best, and to revisit Johto would be awesome.

PBR2 wouldn't be too bad either if they made it well...

 

[ExperimentaL]

I think half the reason Gold/Silver were so amazing is because it added so much to the series. When there was 151 Pokémon, adding another 100 felt like a ton more. Adding new types, a whole new area, a plethora of new features like shinies, breeding, berries, etc. I would love a remake, but I feel like I could possibly be really let down. It wouldn't be a revamp like FireRed/LeafGreen were, just a remake. An exact copy with updated graphics and a couple of features we've already seen in D/P/Pt.

And now that that's out, I still hope it is a G/S remake. xD

 

[boltscore]

To be fair, GSC utilized the color functions of GBC while RBY did not.

Yellow sort of had different colors. When you walked into a new city, the whole color scale would change.

 

[Firestorm]

Awesome! Bulbapedia was following a lot of the G/S remake hints, so hopefully they'll release it!

Do you think it will be for the DSi Ware?

It will not be a DSiWare game. DSiWare is not for large-scale games like a mainline Pokemon remake. It won't be DSi exclusive either as the userbase just isn't there yet. It will most likely be just like Gold and Silver: DSi Enhanced. You'll probably get some extra features if you play on the DSi, maybe something with the camera, but it should be perfectly playable on a DS or DS Lite. If you remember Gold/Silver, it was in colour if you played on the Game Boy Color, but was perfectly playable on the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket.

 

[Wishy]

I think half the reason Gold/Silver were so amazing is because it added so much to the series. When there was 151 Pokémon, adding another 100 felt like a ton more. Adding new types, a whole new area, a plethora of new features like shinies, breeding, berries, etc. I would love a remake, but I feel like I could possibly be really let down. It wouldn't be a revamp like FireRed/LeafGreen were, just a remake. An exact copy with updated graphics and a couple of features we've already seen in D/P/Pt.

And now that that's out, I still hope it is a G/S remake. xD

Hopefully it is a revamp like FRLG, because it would be pretty backwards to go back before the physical / special split.

7 days until the truth is know.

 

[connlocks]

It could easily be Pokemon XD2, Stadium 3, or some other game that would be released on Wii.

Hopefully they want to keep their handheld gamers happy though.

G/S remake would be good.

Or Pokemon Stadium 1/2 on DS? It's possible. Just unlikely.