The official Pokemon Organize Play website released images of the Platinum – Supreme Victors sleeves and promo card. You can get your hands on these free items by entering the prerelease tournament, which will be held during August 9-23, 2009.

Go to the Prerelease Tournaments page for a location near you and more information on how to join.

Nintendo released some financial numbers, and they don’t look good:

Nintendo on Thursday reported a decrease in sales and profit for its first fiscal quarter ended in June, as its software lineup for the most recent financial period had a tough time measuring up to last year’s lineup of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit.

Profits for the Kyoto, Japan-based company dropped 60.6 percent to ¥42.3 billion ($442.9 million), while sales dropped 40 percent to ¥253.5 billion ($2.65 billion).

Aside from a tough comparison, Nintendo said the appreciation of the yen also negatively impacted revenues.

 
It’s hard to name a company not going through tough times during this economy. And it could be worse, especially with news that Sony posted a loss of 37.1 billion ($391 million).

Pokemon Still Selling Well
There is some good Pokemon news in Nintendo’s report:

Regarding “Nintendo DS” software sales in the first quarter, the “Pokemon Platinum Version” sold well overseas, however, there were few popular new titles.

 
If there’s anything Nintendo can count on, it’s definitely Pokemon.

In Part 1, we covered various setting ideas ranging from the ancient era to medieval fantasy. In this article, I will continue providing other ideas for settings that you can use in your role-plays, fan fictions, fan art, or anything else you might want them for. Remember, feel free to take what you want and change details to suit your needs. These realms are for you and simply spark the question: What other Pokémon Worlds exist?

The Pokémon of the Caribbean
Returning to our historical focus, we bring to you a loved classic. Everyone loves pirates (or ninjas, but that is another tale.) Now add Pokémon into the mix. Sail forth on your sloop-of-war, carrying a Chatot on your shoulder and a rapier in hand. Of course, things aren’t always what they seem. Water and Flying Pokémon offer entire new ways of assaulting a fellow vessel in addition to the thundering cannons. And every sailor dislikes a Fire Pokémon on their ship (for obvious reasons.)

Perhaps you rather run an adventure more lawful. In that case, why not transfer such a setting to one of the royal navy? Certainly civilized regions like Kanto or Johto had imperial navies long ago and the Orange Islands make a perfect Caribbean equivalent. Fight off pirates plundering helpless galleons and save the day from such treacherous villains. You can’t go wrong with a gallant uniform, sturdy Pokémon, and a proper title to back up your words. Having friendly seaports is a boon as well.

This setting is the ultimate pinnacle of open sea exploration. And there is so much more that can happen. What do you do when Pokémon of the deep rise up from the depths to sink your vessel? Sirens beckon from every unknown shore, using their Pokémon to Sing and Charm sailors to their rocky deaths. Storms rage and it will take all your might to hang on, lest you end up wrecked upon a mysterious island filled with giant Raticates! And they seem to be hungry…

(more…)

WAR VIII has drawn to a close on PE2K, and now its time to name the winner.

1. One Against All [32 Points]
2. The Cullen [28 Points]
3. Knights of the Round Table [24 Points]
4. Team Aqua [21 Points]
5. Team Rocket [16 Points]
6. Team Gurren Lagann [14 Points]

And the individual standings for WAR VII are…

1. FireflyK [9 Points]
2. k_pop [5 Points]
3. Neo Pikachu
Lusyanka
Haze
Lunar_Latios

Good WAR, guys. It was fun. I hope to see you all next summer for WAR IX. Wow, we’re almost at the first WAR with an X in it. And WAR X is in two years. That will be fun. XD

Nintendo has announced that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky will be released on October 12, 2009.

Press Release (July 29, 2009):

POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: EXPLORERS OF SKY FOR NINTENDO DS LAUNCHING OCT. 12

For fans of the beloved Pokémon™ Mystery Dungeon video game series, this fall promises to be an especially thrilling one. Nintendo of America has confirmed an Oct. 12 release date for the new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky game, a feature-packed adventure created exclusively for the portable Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems.

Play as one of 19 different Pokémon including five additional starter Pokémon that have been added to the roster of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. There are more than 490 Pokémon to interact with in this immersive role-playing adventure that is engaging for longtime fans and series newcomers. Players assume the role of a Pokémon and team up with a partner Pokémon to save the world from destruction. The game also includes new “Special Episodes” that reveal secrets about certain characters in the Mystery Dungeon world. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky also includes enhanced communication features where Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi owners can trade in-game items and share a demo dungeon with friends through the local wireless communication. Players with wireless broadband Internet access can use Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to find special missions and rescue fallen friends.

Since first launching in Japan in 1996, the Pokémon video games have sold more than 191 million units worldwide. For more information about Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, please visit Pokemon.com.

The Member Card item, which is required to get Darkrai on Pokemon Platinum, will be available for free on Wi-Fi during August 3 to September 13.

For full instructions on how to obtain the Member Card and get to Darkrai, go here: Pokemon Platium – Darkrai

Grace Beck finished in 4th place at the Pokemon Video Game National Championships and qualified for the Pokémon Video Game World Championships, but she didn’t celebrate after her big win, she’s cried. Grace felt bad for the other competitiors who didn’t win:

After Grace Beck had won all five of her matches at the National Pokémon Video Game Championships in St. Louis last month, as she walked back to her hotel, she broke down and cried.

“I was ashamed and embarrassed,” she says. “I felt like I’d somehow stolen it from everyone there who’d spent months trying for it.”

Beck, 26, from Buena Park, had just qualified for next month’s World Pokémon Video Game Championship in San Diego. And that wasn’t supposed to happen. She went St. Louis mostly to cheer on reigning national champion Chris Tsai, a cousin whom she considers her brother.

She entered the tournament only because players – not fans – got a rare Pokémon character, a limited-edition Miletic. And she actually played because Tsai teased her for being a Pokémon collector, not a Pokémon battler.

“He was goading me,” Beck says. Then she giggles, and admits what few knew as the tournament began: “I never battled another person, not even Chris, until my first round at nationals.”

 
Also…

“I’d kind of hoped my 15 minutes of fame would be something like eating the most cake in a 24-period, or having the cutest cat in Orange County,” she says, laughing.

“I still can’t believe it.”

 
Believe it! The entire article is quite lengthy, but it’s an interesting read if you have the time.

Also going to the Pokemon Video Game World Championships is Kamran Jahadi:

When the winners were being announced, his name was mispronounced as Carmen, but Kamran knew they meant him, he said.

“I knew I was going to win,” he said, grinning, “but I was scared I might lose and go home with nothing.”

With the Pokemon TCG National Championships completed, Pokemon TCG trainers are now eyeing the final battle of the year: the Pokemon TCG World Championships. It’s an invite only event bringing together the best of the best of the Pokemon TCG. This year it is being held during August 13-15, 2009, at San Diego, California.

Several local news websites have written articles of their TCG trainers, including one on Aylam Rosenthal, the Senior Division Champion of the National tournament:

In the last few months, the 11-year-old Providence boy has won the Rhode Island championship, the Massachusetts championship and, most recently, the national championship. All that’s left for this home-schooled Pokemon prodigy in his quest for world domination is, of course, the world championship. That’s Aug. 14-16 in San Diego.

Until then, Aylam will practice every day. And every day he’ll politely decline e-mail requests from around the world asking him to disclose the secret to his success: deck building.

“Pokemon is similar to poker. There’s luck in the cards you get, but there’s skill in how you play them.”

 
Also making their local news:

Andrew duLuard, earned his spot in the tournament by finishing the season in the top 25. He competed in last year’s Worlds by finishing in the top 4 in the Last Chance Qualifier.

Jacob Tamm got in Worlds by taking fourth place in the National tournament.

Nadia Bokhari finished in the top 8 in Nationals (the only female in the top 8).

Joshua Simon who ranked second in the season (113 wins and 13 losses), might not compete in Worlds even though he qualified (very qualified) because his family can’t afford to go there. The top 4 finishers of the previous Worlds and the top 4 at Nationals are given a free Travel Award (other qualifiers get there themselves).

His mom, speaking in the comments section of the article, is seeking sponsorships or donations. I was able to speak to her and confirm it was indeed Joshua’s mom (you never know online, so I checked). By talking to her I can really tell she’s really proud of her son and very happy with what Joshua has accomplished this season. She is still looking hard for a way to get Joshua to Worlds, so I hope my little mention here might her cause. You can contact Joshua’s mom at ckiddrck@yahoo.com

We are all familiar with the Pokémon World. It’s the same place that Ash Ketchum trains to be the very best. It’s where we have fought Gym Leaders such as Brock, Jasmine, and Volkner. A world Professor Oak introduced us to when he gave us our first Pokémon (though some of you younger trainers may have received it from his associates.) We know the Pokémon World because we’ve watched it, played it, and loved it.

But, it is not the only Pokémon World. No, far from it. Even in canon, there is a place, very similar to the Pokémon World, where rescue teams struggle to do good within their own communities. Of course, I’m referring to the realm portrayed in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. In such a world, humans do not exist and it is the Pokémon who have formed the basis of civilization. I will not spoil anything, but it brings to the point that if such a world, both similar and unique, exists, then perhaps so do many other worlds. Ones worth exploring.

This article is designed to help role-players, writers, and artists come up with creative new setting ideas. Whether you are planning a new role-play and wish to create something unique or want a fascinating idea to explore through story, this article is for you. Take what you want with it and please feel free to change details around to suit your needs. None of this is set in stone and simply is here to spark the question: What other Pokémon Worlds exist?

(more…)

 
Hi and welcome to the new PE2K.com website!

Status
Ever since day 1 of this website back in 2000, I’ve been the only one that worked on the website. But my priorities have shifted recently and that meant little or no time working on the site. I am happy to say though that I am doing fine and I just graduated from college (yay me). Since my education is finally done, I think this is a great time to relaunch the PE2K website. Although the site has not been updated, the forum has been running just fine thanks to the moderators and the members that kept the community going. I haven’t been gone entirely all this time, someone has to keep the server running.

Old Content
All the content from the old website remains, such as the sprites, pictures, information, etc. You can still access that content from the left navigation bar (there’s a tab shortcut to the sprites on top of the page).

What’s New
With this new website, I will be sharing the stage with my staff from the forum, as well as other members of the forum that were invited to post here on the website. So you will see others posting here on the website as well. We will post Pokemon news here as you would expect, but you’ll also see announcements about interesting events happening over at our forum, such as the WAR and URPG. There’s a lot of great fan art and fan fiction from our users at our forum, so we’re planning to share some of that here to give them some extra spotlight for their great work.

Of course, to make it easier for you to get the information you want to read, you’ll be able to sort posts by category (Pokemon News, Pokemon Strategy, etc), by using the category feature.

Comments Section
Also, if you want to comment on posts here on the website, you will use your forum’s account to post in the comments section. So if you already have a PE2K forum account, you are all set! If not, you can simply create an account at the PE2K forum, and you can use that to post comments here.

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Hopefully by having more people contributing to the website we’ll be able to offer more content on the website on a regular basis. Anyways, hope to see you back soon!