Pokemon Black 2, Pokemon White 2 Arrive In June 
'When We Show A Power-Up To Mr Miyamoto, We Get A Bit Nervous.' 
To Build A Nintendo, You Needed Cigarettes, Robots And Nice Japanese Ladies 
The Nintendo 3DS Is A Tricky Sell 
Rumour: 3DS "Close To" 360, PS3 Graphics 
The DS Is About To Become The Biggest-Selling Console Of All Time Remember The World Ends with You? In a recent interview with Tetsuya Nomura, he said this about the game: “Now, I still can’t say anything… But, something, perhaps there will be something.” Hope it’s not a social game! [FF-Union]
Here, take a look at the debut gameplay trailer for upcoming Pokemon sequels Black & White 2 on the DS, showing some of the new trainers in action.
This year, a new Pokémon game, Pokémon Black and White 2, is headed to the Nintendo DS. The latest issue of Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic revealed new details about the game, including the first images of the game’s brand new trainers.
Way back in the year 1999, Sega took its successful horror light-gun game, House of the Dead 2, swapped guns for keyboards and released it in arcades under the name The Typing of the Dead. Two years later this typing tutor was released overeseas on the Dreamcast and PC. It was — and still is frankly — the best edutainment game this side of Carmen Sandiego.
A girl in the United Kingdom put away a man who molested her thanks to the camera on her Nintendo DSi, using it to surreptiously capture his assault and force a confession.
We’ve already taken a look at the tactics-style gameplay and use of historical figures in our coverage of Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition on the Nintendo DS. But when it comes down to it, was Poké-fying the world of feudal Japan a bold new step for the future of Pokémon, or would Nintendo have been better off sticking to its standard Pokémon formula?!–more–>
Good — A Natural Fit For A Strategy GamePokémon has had numerous spin-offs over the years involving everything from photography to pet-rearing, yet few have worked as well as this one. With such a variety of skills and monster types, Pokémon finds itself well suited to the world of turn-based strategy RPGs. Like in the regular series, knowing the weaknesses of enemy Pokémon is the surest way to achieve victory, though there’s more to battle than just that.
Good — The Landscape Is Your True FoeThe most interesting addition to the standard strategy RPG elements is the dynamic arenas in which you battle. A lava-filled map may be easily traversable for fire-types (and flying types of course), but all other Pokémon will be forced to move along specific safe paths. Other maps include switches which can change the layout of the level or extra objects — like balls — that can be used as weapons against your opponent. Many stages also have traps and warp holes to add yet another layer to the already well-designed levels.
Mixed — Simple For A Tactics GameYet despite the Pokémon element system and the dynamic battle stages, the gameplay of Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition is quite simple — especially for a tactics game. Each Pokémon is only capable of performing one attack, with items and trainer commands only useable once per battle. In fact, the only way for a Pokémon to learn a new attack is for it to evolve, which happens via item — or automatically if you use them enough.
On the positive side, this makes the game easy to pick up for children and those new to the strategy RPG genre. But on the negative side, veteran players of the “tactics” genre will find none of the complexity found in games like Disgaea or even Final Fantasy Tactics.
Mixed — Combining WorldsWhile combining Pokémon with feudal Japan is an admittedly awesome idea, little is done with it. The story is as simple as you and your allies conquering the South while Nobunaga does the same in the North and the dialogue is little more than pre-fight posturing. There’s really no compelling reason for a crossover with the Nobunaga’s Ambition series. This same basic game could easily take place in the modern Pokémon world, or in that world’s past for that matter.
And on a side note, only 200 of the 649 Pokémon are present in Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition, leaving a large majority absent from this adventure.
Bad — It Should Never Be Hard To Interact With A GameBy far the worst thing about Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition is its dated, clunky interface. Outside of battle, up to six of your characters and Pokémon can be stored in each one of your castles. But is entering battle as simple as clicking on the enemy castle and choosing your party? You can only wish. Instead you must transfer your chosen party into the castle adjacent to the place you want to attack. To swap two characters between castles is a process that takes no less than 10 taps of the screen. It’s like the game takes pleasure in being needlessly obtuse.
In-battle actions suffer from a different interface problem. While the game does allow you camera control, you are unable to zoom out far enough to see an enemy’s complete movement range. Without this basic information, planning your own moves becomes needlessly more difficult.
Final ThoughtsPokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition is a decent foray into the strategy RPG world. The artistic style is top notch, while the dynamic arenas make each and every battle enjoyable. And even though the game itself is a tad on the simple side — and the interface is more than a little unfriendly — there is far more good than bad in this title. It really is a great first step in a whole new direction for Pokémon titles.
In Asia, Girls Generation is huge. And in their native South Korea, the girl group has shilled DSi units for Nintendo. Yet, the group does not have its own game. But if it did, would it look like this?
This handy little infographic made by Venturebeat was a real eye opener for me, personally. Mainly because I assumed that the PS Vita had made much less of a sales impact than the PSP, when the reality is that it was quite close. In fact, I had a lot of assumptions questioned through this neat sales chart.
