As announced by Nintendo on their website, the release date for Pokémon Black and White in North America is Sunday, March 6th, 2011. The games are already available for pre-orders from retailers like GameStop.
As far as the European release date goes, we had reported back in November that the Italian GameStop website had listed March 25th as the release date. However, this is not confirmed in any way. Actually, pictures of posters from GameStop had recently emerged on the Internet, all listing different dates for the North American release date, including April 1st and April 17th. Another speculated date for the European release of the games is Friday, March 4th, 2011, essentially a simultaneous debut of the games outside Japan.
On a side note, Pokémon Black and White are the best selling games in Japan in 2010, having already sold approximately 4.8 million copies, only 14 weeks after their release.
Update: Check out the english trailer on our YouTube channel!
Update: Following the earlier press release that confirmed the release date, the official Black & White website has been updated with more English names for Pokémon, moves, abilities, etc. The new translations are:
- Minccino (Chillarmy), the Chinchilla Pokémon, with the abilities Cute Charm and Technician and the move Tail Slap (previously known as Sweep Slap).
- Gigalith (Gigaiasu), the Compressed Pokémon, with the ability Sturdy.
- Munna (Munna), the Dream Eater Pokémon, with the abilities Foreworn and Synchronize and the move Telekinesis.
- Darmanitan (Hihidaruma), the Blazing Pokémon, with the Sheer Force ability (previously known as Encourage).
- Sandile (Meguroko), the Desert Croc Pokémon, with the abilities Intimidate and Moxie (previously known as Overconfident).
- Pidove (Mamepato), the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon, with the abilities Big Pecks (previously known as Pigeon Heart) and Super Luck.
- Blitzle (Shimama), the Electrified Pokémon, with the abilities Lightningrod and Motor Drive and the move Wild Charge (previously known as Wild Bolt).
- Klink (Gear), the Gear Pokémon, with the abilities Plus or Minus.
- Hiun City is now known as Castelia City.
- Professor Araragi’s English name is Professor Juniper.