Here we have four screenshots of the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire game. What’s different in these screenshots from the ones we have seen in the past, of course, is the fact they’re from the English version of the game. From these new screenshots, we now know more official English names of Pokemon we didn’t know before. This includes: Skitty, Taillow, and Zigzagoon. And of course, we already know the starters official English names. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire will make its release in the US on March 17th.

The Newly Discovered Official English Names
Skitty	Taillow	Zigzagoon

It’s going to take a while until Ruby/Sapphire will be removed from the top of the charts, but seeing how it’s been there for this long, it’s hard to imagine when that time will come. Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire continued its craze in Japan, as it tops the chart for best selling games for yet another week (chart for 01/06/12 to 01/12/02). It has been released for two months now, yet the demand for Ruby/Sapphire keeps going on and on. So far, Ruby/Sapphire has sold 3.6 million units since its release, which was November 21, 2002. Though it was released near the end of the year of 2002, it became the best selling game of the year for 2002, and it’s looking very good so far in 2003.

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire will be released in the US on March 17, 2003. The day afterwards, March 18, is the release of GBA SP (the new improved version of the original GBA). And just five days after that, on March 23, it will be the release of Pokemon 4Ever on DVD/VHS. Now this is what I call "March Madness".

There hasn’t been a clear release date for the Pokemon Aquapolis set, just “late January.” Well, it has been released in stores already, in some cases, already been released for a week now (depends on the store). Pokemon Aquapolis contains 186 cards, the biggest Pokemon TCG set ever. It features three new energy cards: Boost, Crystal, and Warp Energy. These cards contain the special codes on them to swipe your card through the e-Reader. e-Reader is a device for GBA, using special e-Reader compatible cards, you can unlock things such as mini-games. Booster packs for the Pokemon Aquapolis is retailing for $3.29, and the two pre-constructed decks (Abyss and Rock Garden), are retailing for $9.99 each.

With Aquapolis being released, you can now look forward to the next Pokemon TCG set release, which is called "Sky Ridge." As of now, there are no details on this set or any release date. You'll be sure to hear about any new updates about Sky Ridge here in the news.

Nintendo announced that they are going to slow down the amount of various Pokemon merchandise they’ve been making a lot of. Not the games or cards, they’re referring to the “side merchandise” such as t-shirts, lunchboxes, etc. Believe it or not, there’s actually a Pokemon waffle maker. Yes, a Pokemon waffle maker. I think that’s a very clear indication that you have gone too far with Pokemon products. Pushing so many varieties of products out like that will lose its appeal, and that’s why Nintendo wants to slow it down.

If you still don’t get it, let’s use my log analogy. If you put all your logs in the fire at once, you’ll have one big fire for a short while. But if you place your logs slowly, then you’ll be able to keep your fire going on longer. Nintendo chose to put out a lot of Pokemon products, therefore, risking it to lose its appeal faster. Now they’re trying to solve the problem, but it may be a little too late. There’s already licenses given to various companies to produce these products, all Nintendo can do is do better from now on. It’s good to know that Nintendo is still focused on improving Pokemon, let’s hope they succeed.

Don't worry if you think there will be less Pokemon stuff, all the games and cards will still be strong. You'll just have less things you won't be needing, like the Pokemon waffle maker as I have mentioned (you can live without a special Pokemon one).

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire was made for the Game Boy Advance system, but it’s even better with Game Boy Advance SP. The new handheld will be released on March 23, 2003, in the US (also, February 14 in Japan, and March 28 in Europe). It will retail for $100. The new improved version of GBA is compatible with all GBA and GB games, features a lighted screen, which means you can play your game with ease under any lighting situations. Whether glare or darkness, it won’t be a problem with GBA SP. If you own a Game Boy before, then it’s likely that you did some twisting and turning with the handheld to get the light source just right. The screen lighting can be turned on and off. Of course, this is only the main feature of the new handheld, we haven’t even talked about the new design and the rechargeable battery pack.

The system is really compact and has a nice new design to it. The handheld can be folded, which is a nice way to prevent any harm to the screen. The screen size and buttons are the same as the original GBA. The rechargeable battery pack gets rid of the trouble of shuffling through batteries. The battery recharges fully in just three hours. It lasts for 10 hours with the light on, or 18 hours with the light off.

There are rumors spreading that this goes on to prove that Nintendo may sooner or later abandon their efforts on consoles and focus solely on handhelds. However, Nintendo is shooting down that rumor down with no hesitation. “We are committed to the console market,” says Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo of America vice president of marketing and corporate affairs. “Not only are we committed to GameCube, we are currently working on our next console.”

Pokemon is finally coming to GameCube. Confirmed by Nintendo itself, a Pokemon game is scheduled to be released in Japan for the GameCube console, the release date is set for this Summer. From the scarce information available, the game will require a Gameboy Advance and a copy of either Pokemon Ruby or Pokemon Sapphire, in order for the Pokemon GameCube game to function. The retail price of the game will be 4800 yen (the same price Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire is), which is about $40. Nintendo did not release anymore information about the game, no word on the type of game it is or even a title. They are probably saving all the information until the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which is an event of gaming companies showing off their products. They announce new titles and release information about their products, it’s the most important event for the gaming industry.

Though that’s a possibility, we may be able to learn more about the game before the event. Judging from what we know, it seems like a Pokemon Stadium type game. Pokemon Stadium (and the second one), has done very well in the past, so it’s no surprise if this game turned out to be the 3rd Pokemon Stadium game. Be sure to check back here in the news for any new updates about the Pokemon GameCube game.

As 2002 has come to an end, final figures for video game sales in Japan have named Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire the king of 2002. Out of all console type games of 2002 (PS2, Xbox, GC, GBA, etc), Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire sold 2,740,909 units. To put this amazing achievement in a better perspective, the second place finisher sold 1,090,655 units (World Soccer Winning Eleven 6), third at 949,325 (Onimusha 2), and fourth at 819,617 (Kingdom Hearts). Also, Pokemon was released in November 21st, meaning it only had a little over a month in stores, yet it still captured the 2002 top title. The other three titles on the top 5 were released March and April, which gives it plenty of time to sell before the year is over. Pokemon got the number one spot all in the time frame of just one month.

Like I always said, it’s something you would expect from Pokemon, it’s not like Pokemon never been in this situation before. Of course not, just check out this timeline of great achievements in Japan:

---1996: Pokemon Red/Blue Top Selling Game in 1996.

---1997: Pokemon Red/Blue Top Selling Game in 1997.

---1998: Pokemon Red/Blue Second Best Selling Game in 1998.

---1999: Pokemon Gold/Silver Top Selling Game in 1999.

---2000: Pokemon Gold/Silver Third Best Selling Game in 2000.

---2002: Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Top Selling Game in 2002.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, right above you see Pokemon Red/Blue the top selling game for 2 years in a row, and in its third year, it still had enough in it to capture second place. Gold/Silver had similar success. And it looks like Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire will not just be settling for 2002, it will also be one of the top titles in 2003.

The fifth movie is coming to the US soon, on May 16th, Pokemon the fifth movie will be released in theaters in the US. Pikachu and the Pichu brothers are back in the mini movie. The main film features Latios and Latias. And of course, Ash, Misty, and Brock are starring in this film.

Once again, Miramax will distribute the movie. Miramax distributed the last movie, Pokemon 4Ever (the fourth movie). It was the first time a Pokemon movie was on limited release. Limited release basically means the movie will only be available at small amount of theaters. With Miramax in charge once again, the fifth movie will also be a limited release.

A Little Something about Miramax and "Spirited Away"...

Of course, Miramax has been known for their limited releasing, also for their poor judgments and ludicrous marketing strategies. Their most recent mistake was their handling with the award winning Japanese animation film, Spirited Away. That film is the top box office hit of all time in Japan, removing Titanic from the number one all time spot. It also won the Golden Bear award for best film in the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival, it is the first animated film to get the award. If you know movie awards, then you would know that the Golden Bear is the top award, internationally speaking. When released in the US, Miramax hardly promoted the film at all, and of course, that means it’s under limited release. In the US, it won best animated feature from the National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and many other various awards. It’s also a front runner for winning an Oscar for best animated film. An amazing film wasted under Miramax's limited release, obviously didn't do well at the box office because of Miramax's fault. Yet the movie got all these awards here in the US and praise from critics. Miramax drops the ball once again.

Back To Pokemon, The Pokemon 4Ever Ordeal...

Which brings me to my point, if a film achieved all that, being the top film all time in Japan and winning the Golden Bear before it was even released in the US, then you would imagine it’s hard to convince the people of Miramax to release the film widely. Just when you thought WB can’t do any worse after their minimal funding for promoting the Pokemon movies, Miramax just did that, it did worse. The Pokemon 4Ever experience can be summed up in one word: shortage. The official Pokemon website got so many emails from people where they can find Pokemon 4Ever in theaters that it had to post a special message on their website to deal with it. I myself got many emails concerning Pokemon 4Ever as well. Miramax is a problem, and I can only hope that the sixth movie, will be distributed better. No distributor has the rights to the sixth movie yet, it may be Miramax that gets the rights to that movie, but it may very well be some other company as well. Whatever the case may be, I just hope it gets handled appropriately. I don't expect star treatment like Lord of the Rings type promotions, but at least do something.

Nevertheless, the fifth movie will be coming in theaters under limited release, on May 16th. Be sure to catch that for those lucky enough to reach a theater that will show it.