North America celebrates the launch of Pokémon with a pre-release party in Nintendo World, New York. Attendees will be able to buy the game one day prior its nationwide release, and also have a chance to win a game autographed by the game’s producer Junichi Masuda and director Takeshi Kawachimaru
As for us in Europe, we have to wait another couple of months till we can see the game in the stores, but the good news is that a promotional series of Shaymin events has began already, starting with Spain April 15th 2009 in participating GAME stores and Germany from April 25th 2009 to May 17th 2009 at 10 McDonald’s locations across the country. Greece is confirmed to follow with its own series of events nearing the release of Pokémon Platinum, so stay tuned for exact dates.
In other Platinum news, Rotom’s formes finally have their official names according to a leaflet packaged with the game one can enter the following passwords to Rotom’s official page for an unknown surprise.
- Mow Rotom: 7W6O3M5
- Wash Rotom: H8S3A5W
- Frost Rotom: 6TS8ORF
- Fan Rotom: 9N4A4F8
- Heat Rotom: T8A6EH7
Also don’t miss the interview G4 TV hosts with GameFreak designers Junichi Masuda and Takeshi Kawachimaru. The interviewer asks some really insightful questions on Platinum and Pokémon games in general and the designers don’t hesitate answering some hot matters.
G4: Many people erroneously think that Pokemon games are just for children, but there are many complex features in the game like IVs, EV training, Hidden Power, and more. How did these features come about?
JM: The reason why we put things like IVs and EVs into the game is because we wanted to give players that are really into Pokemon battles much more to work with and much more to enjoy. We have a team that’s dedicated to constantly enhancing and evolving the battle system. They have so many ideas and such a willingness to enhance the game. They’re always thinking of ways to make battles more interesting. One example from this generation is that they separated moves into physical attacks and special attacks, which adds more versatility and strategy to both offense and defense. They always listen to player feedback and they battle a lot themselves. This team is the reason why Pokemon has such a rich battle system that’s always evolving.
Finally, as a follow-up to the release of Platinum, we’ll begin “platinizing” our Pokédex in the following weeks, being the only site ever that managed to release the first data ever on Platinum and be the last to become up to date! Stay tuned for more…
Sources: Bulbanews, The PKM Database.