The director and producer of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, Junichi Masuda and Takao Unno, respectively, were recently interviewed by Game Informer.
 

In the interview, they discussed some of the most pressing questions about the Pokemon World, including what it’s like inside a Pokeball, whether the Pokemon world is the same as Earth and what people in the Pokemon world really eat. If you’ve ever wondered about any of these things, you should check out the interview below!
 

What exactly happens inside of a Pokéball? Is there a home in there? Is there food in there? And can humans go in a Pokéball?
 

Masuda: It sure would be interesting if Pokéballs existed in real life, and we haven’t imagined that. But, in terms of what’s inside of the Pokéball, it’s a space that’s incredibly comfortable for Pokémon. So comfortable, that they want to enter the Pokéball without any sort of outside encouragement. What’s actually in there is something we would like for people to sort of imagine on their own. In terms of whether humans can enter the Pokéball or not, it’s called a Pokéball, so probably not. I think it’s just for Pokémon.

 

Read the rest of the interview at Game Informer.
 

What questions would you like to see answered by the creators of Pokemon?

 

We started with 151. Over the years that number has grown massively, leaving us with a current total of over 600 Pokemon, with more to come!
 

Are there really too many Pokemon? Chance Asue of Gaming Illustrated thinks so. How many different creatures can there be before catching ‘em all becomes an overly monotonous and uninteresting task?
 

“To this day, gamers who grew up with Red or Blue can name the original 150 (151 if we count Mew) completely from memory, a feat that seems unfeasible with the current count, not only due to overwhelming number but also from the substantial forgetfulness permeating the new designs. Perhaps I were born into a later generation, I could play with and love over 600 PokĂ©mon despite their faults, but I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that these games aren’t made for me anymore. These creatures aren’t meant to entice me to purchase the latest version and trade with my friends. I have never and will never outgrow PokĂ©mon, but PokĂ©mon has outgrown me.”

 

Read the rest at Gaming Illustrated.
 

What do you think? How many Pokemon is too many?

O’Dell Harmon of Game Informer has put together a list of the Top 50 Pokemon of all time, based not only on their battling merits, but on the games, anime and Pokemon folklore as well. So which Pokemon made the cut?
 

#50: Cubone
We start off the list with a Pokémon that makes it just because of its back story. Every Cubone wears the skull of its deceased mother, and even though they’re small, they have an unbreakable spirit.
 

#49: Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff has gained popularity through the anime and has been a main stay in Smash Bros. since the first game. With an unforgettable sing attack that only a Pokémon with Soundproof can seem to escape, this balloon Pokémon charms its way onto the list.
 

#48: Crobat
The first competitive battler on the list, Crobat is one of the fastest Pokémon in the game. The fully evolved Zubat will not sweep any teams, but is a reliable choice when you need poison and speed.

 

See the rest of the Top 50 at Game Informer.
 

And which Pokemon is #1?! It had to be…
 
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The final VGC download for the Pokemon World Tournament in Black and White 2 went live yesterday. This time it’s the Master Division led by World Champ Ray, based on the winner of the Pokemon Video Game World Championships – Ray Rizzo. Luckily for us, he’s shared a few tips for taking down his team.
 

1. Be prepared for Dragon Types—My team features two Dragon-type Pokémon, Hydreigon and Garchomp, so there’s a good chance you will be facing off against at least one of them, if not both. Ice-type Pokémon, such as Abomasnow or Weavile, should help take down the Dragon types with ease. Steel-type Pokémon are also an option as they resist Dragon-type attacks, but watch out for Garchomp’s Earthquake and Hydreigon’s Flamethrower. Those moves can both hit Steel-types for a lot of damage.
 

2. Bring Pokémon that thrive under Trick Room—Once the two fast Dragon-type Pokémon are defeated, there is also a slow Trick Room portion to my team. Cresselia will set up Trick Room while Tyranitar and Metagross move first due to their low speed and will deal heavy damage with their high Attack stats. Bring along your own slow Pokémon, such as Conkeldurr or Ferrothorn, to use my own Trick Room against me, or prevent my Cresselia from setting up Trick Room altogether using the move Taunt, and bring a lot of fast Pokémon to defeat my slower ones.

 

Read the rest at ComplexGaming.
 

Interested to see how Ray’s final battle at the 2012 Pokemon World Championships went down? You can view the video below.
 

 

Just how has Pokemon managed to capture the imaginations and attention of millions of people over the last 16 years with its simple formula and repetitive gameplay? Simple, writes Julian C. Lucas of The Harvard Crimson. Pokemon is personal.
 

“The fundamental reason for the intense emotional investment that a game like PokĂ©mon elicits from its youthful users is that the player-character at any given point represents only the game player’s own choices. There is a reason that the main character is such a cipher, so completely without personality. It makes the player’s choices—the trainer’s team—stand out as the only significant content of the game.
 

At the end of Super Mario, who wins? Mario wins—you have only lent your dexterous fingers to his eternal cause. Mario belongs to the world of forms, and your own mediocre Mario will never be anything other than an instantiation of this ideal Mario—this Platonic essence of Mario who never misses a Koopa or Coin.
 

But at the end of PokĂ©mon, the winner is you, and this is because the player character signifies nothing beyond the gradual accumulation of player choice. PokĂ©mon is always personal.”

 

Read the rest at The Harvard Crimson.

 

With the release of Pokemon Black and White 2, our Unova adventures are all wrapped up for now. So what can we expect next for Pokemon? We already know there’s a new Mystery Dungeon sequel on the way, but aside from that, Nintendo have been very quiet when it comes to the future of one of their most successful franchises.
 

Most fans are expecting Ruby and Sapphire remakes to be announced any time now, but what about beyond that? New spin off games? New sequels? New anime series? Marc Zablotny of Official Nintendo Magazine has a few ideas.
 

Recently I was tidying my room and I came across a small set of drawers tucked away in the corner that hadn’t been opened nor seen the light of day for some time. I opened one of them and discovered, much to my pleasant surprise, that it contained a bunch of old PC games from when I was younger. Among them was the fantastic Zoo Tycoon and its two expansion packs.
 

For those who may not know, Zoo Tycoon is a simulation game in which you build and manage a zoo. You need to adopt animals, create suitable exhibits to keep them happy, keep them well fed and healthy while also attending to the needs of your guests and gain a profit. Though primarily associated with the PC, two games in the series have found their way on the Nintendo DS.
 

As I was revelling in nostalgia, it hit me that this sort of game would make for a fantastic Pokemon spin-off. Forget lions, tigers and bears, instead you’ll have a whole host of Pokemon to create exhibits for. The more you actually sit and think about this sort of game, the more you realise how well it would work.

 

Read the rest at Official Nintendo Magazine.

Image by Jake Lawrence 

Alois Wittwer of Nightmare Mode has written a fascinating opinion piece about the ways in which Pokemon Red and Blue Versions depict “a world on the cutting-edge, free from religious and moralistic concerns”, where science is essentially allowed to run riot. It presents an alternative view of the early days of Pokemon and one that may make you rethink all those nostalgic adventures around Kanto.
 

The Kanto region mirrors the rapid industrialization of our world and the rise of corporate power. The Silph Company holds a monopoly on all things technological in Kanto and its sister region Johto… Accompanying The Silph Company’s technological ambitions is a land and culture that looks and feels modern. Viridian Forest borders Viridian City and Pewter City as the only woodland of the region and the countless roads that intersect and cross land and sea indicate a region that’s constantly on the move. Kanto’s constant technological achievements has even left modern constructs abandoned like the Power Plant to the north of Cerulean City and the PokĂ©mon Mansion on Cinnabar Island where numerous experiments were carried out. And, a retcon though it may be, PokĂ©mon Gold and Silver’s introduction of Berries and subsequent explanation that Kanto’s volcanic soil is unable to yield crops, closely aligns the region with Japan itself: a country that practically lives off importation and exuberant technological success.

 

Read the rest at Nightmare Mode.

 
Pokedex 3D Pro was released internationally yesterday and is now available from the Nintendo eShop. The 3DS-exclusive application features over 640 Pokemon in full 3D animated glory, trivia games, all the ‘dex info you need and the ability to take augmented reality photos.
 

If you haven’t made up your mind about whether or not to purchase Pokedex 3D Pro, maybe these reviews will help!
 

From Nintendo World Report

“The last feature worth mentioning is the new PokĂ©mon Challenge mode. Within it are 36 quizzes (and three bonus ones reserved for password-based exams) that test your PokĂ©mon knowledge from every single piece of information in this game: PokĂ©mon, types, stats, egg groups, abilities, special forms, weights, heights (fun fact: Nidoking is only four feet tall), and PokĂ©mon cries. Fans of the series may find the quizzes (which need to be progressively unlocked) dull and simple at first, though as you get into the nitty-gritty, the quizzes get appropriately difficult.”

 

From Nintendo Life

“PokĂ©dex 3D Pro pulls tons of data and some fun asides together in a stylishly presented, smooth application, and the brand-new 3D PokĂ©mon models are just delightful. However, the price point is far beyond what we’d expect to pay for such a package — especially when so much of the information is freely available online — and so, despite its quality, comes difficult to recommend to all but the most enthusiastic of PokĂ©mon masters.”

 

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Joystiq Writer Kat Bailey believes that the World Tournament feature found in Pokemon Black & White 2 is a great addition to the Pokemon saga.

Gym leaders serve all sorts of different purposes. In the fiction, they are sort of like the town sheriff, serving as both a pillar of the community and a bulwark against troublesome villains like Team Plasma. Frequently, they help to advance the story in some way by helping the player solve a problem.

There are now 48 leaders; and remarkably, almost all of them are in the new Pokemon Black 2 and White 2. That includes Brock, and psychic Sabrina, and the dragon trainer Clair from Gold and Silver, along with even the lesser-known trainers from Ruby and Sapphire. They all come bearing signature Pokemon from their regions, plus a few challenges, and some can be quite difficult to beat depending on your party composition.

For fans, every single battle brings memories crashing back, not the least because each battle with a leader features a remixed variant of their original theme.

I remember fighting Clair at 3 a.m. while working security at a university hospital. The Sinnoh boss music from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl bring me back to the hundreds of hours I spent raising Pokemon while living in Japan. For that reason, and many others, the Pokemon World Tournament is already one of my favorite Pokemon modes ever.

After years of kind of nibbling around at the corners, it feels as if Game Freak is finally acknowledging that fifteen years and five generations of games has left a lot of people with strong memories of days monster training past, and that spark has been enough to jump-start my appreciation for the series after a long hiatus.

I’ve gotta say – it’s good to be back.

 
Read More at Joystiq
 

 

If you’re not familiar with evolutionary biology, a phylogenic tree is a graphic representation of the evolution of different species. So what has this got to do with Pokemon? Entomologists at UC Davis have produced a phylogenic tree for all 649 species of Pokemon using real statistical software.
 

Like with life on planet Earth, the results suggest that Pokemon life began in the water, with a distinct separation between fish-like Water-types and amphibious Pokemon. Ice-types are thought to have evolved from the former, while the rest of the Pokemon eventually diverged from the latter. Psychic-types are thought to have Flying-type ancestors as indicated by their ability to levitate. Interestingly, the humanoid Mr. Mine was found to be the most recently evolved Psychic-type Pokemon, trumping Mew and Mewtwo.
 

The characteristics used to produce the tree include type, egg group, body style, moves and abilities. Interestingly, the final tree grouped Pokemon together primarily by type.
 

The article was published in the journal “Annals of Improbable Research” and lists Professor Oak (under his Japanese name) as a co-author. It can be read here, beginning page 18. The tree itself can be viewed by clicking here.
 

Source: DixonPatch