The Pokemon X/Y developer roundtable has just started. We’ll keep tabs on updates here, so keep checking back.
– Mr. Tsunekazu Ishihara, President and CEO of The Pokémon Company, is now taking the stage
– He is very excited for Pokémon players all over the world to begin their adventures at the same time
– Mr. Ishihara is giving a brief history of Pokémon
– Now Prez of Pokemon Co is talking about communication and connective nature of series, and how that’s evolved
– We’ll learn more about the connectivity in Pokemon X&Y later tonight from Junichi Masuda
– Pokémon X and Pokémon Y will refine the core aspects of Pokémon games: collecting, battling, and trading
– Pokemon X&Y being called a culmination of everything in the series thus far
– Mr. Junichi Masuda, Director at GAME FREAK inc., is on stage now
– We’re seeing the Pokemon X&Y bootup screen. RIDING POKEMON. Big Eiffel Tower-like… tower
– Just saw a main character grinding down a rail. Definitely character clothing customization options (though how many I’m not sure)
– Mr. Masuda is discussing the challenges of a global video game release
– There are over 800,000 Japanese characters in the game, which translates to 1.4 million words in English
– Talking about the hurdle of localizing for global release – 800k JPN characters becomes 1.4 million English words
– Players will be able to choose 1 of 7 languages to play the game (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, or Korean)
– The new PSS (Player Search System) will allow players to search for others locally or globally (via Wi-Fi) to battle and trade
– PSS is on lower screen of 3DS, tracks Friends, Acquaintances, and Passersby
– Tracks two ways – local wireless and the Internet
– You can basically be connected with other players all around the world at all times
– Passersby – PSS recognizes other players playing XY. If you interact with one of anyone on that list, they become an Acquaintance
– Mr. Masuda is demoing a battle via the PSS. The two opposing Pokémon are new for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y
– Acquaintances can then become Friends. And you can log and access up to 100 Favorites of any of those three categories of interactions
– Various options for battles. There is a default set, but you can change things re: special Pokemon and other rules
– Battle: Camera placements move around. Split-screen views and more
– Now we’re seeing what you see when you’re back on the PSS (lower) screen
– Two new pokemon announced: Clauncher (water) and Skrelp (poison)
– Because a Passerby was battled, that Passer has now become an Acquaintance
– Save Screen shows a Pokedex count of 113 Pokemon and 8 Badges
– If you interact more than once, the game will ask if you want an Acquaintance to become a Friend. Pretty easy system
– Another new Pokémon, Noivern, is being used to demo the awesome 3D modeling process used for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y
– Decided to adapt the official Pokemon art style and make that come alive in 3D
– A lot more specifications were needed for different angles of the Pokemon, emotions and much more
– Boom Burst: New Normal-type move
– Mr. Masuda is discussing the various ways players can interact with Pokémon in Pokémon-Amie
– Allows better bonding with Pokemon
– Strong bond will result in more critical hits or better dodging
– Time to talk about battles: introducing Horde Encounters (5-on-one battles). (Axnew, Tauros being shown as examples.)
– But a Horde might include a variety of different Pokemon. Not just 1 type. Designed to make wild encounters more thrilling
– Dilemma: only introducing strong Pokemon in battles would ruin the balance, because you can capture. So – Hordes. Challenge but balanced
– Mr. Masuda is showing a video of a Gogoat encountering a horde of Houndour
– Just like any typical RPG, you make 1 attack, and then all of the Horde will attack
– Another new type of battle has been announced! Prepare for Sky Battles
– Only some Flying-type Pokémon (and a few others) can enter a Sky Battle. Mr. Masuda is demoing now
– Trainers will challenge you to Sky Battles. Limited set of Pokemon can participate – mostly Flying types
– If you don’t have any Pokemon that can engage in a Sky Battle, you can’t enter the challenge
– Talonflame, a new Fire- and Flying-type Pokémon, has just been revealed in a Sky Battle demo against Noctowl
– Very dynamic camera, taking a variety of positions through the air. Night time scene looks fantastic. Talonflame vs. Noctowl
– Talonflame has just been switched out for Haunter! But wait…Haunter isn’t a Flying-type Pokémon
– Haunter has a levitate ability so it can fight in a Sky Battle. Now fighting a Aerodactyl
– Q: Multiple save files? A: No. Just one
– Q: Importing Pokemon from previous games? A: They’re working on it. DS/3DS comm. barrier is slightly tricky
– Q: Will there be DLC? A: Hoped that wouldn’t be asked, but they are exploring the possibilities. No announcements
– Q: Explanation for Fairy type being discovered and applying to older Pokemon? A: Dragon type has had an advantage. Wanted balance
– Q: How many new Pokemon? A: No comment
– Q: Why base this location on France? A: France has a focus on a beauty and that was a focus for X&Y. Wanted to see how to express
– Q: Considered tweaking EV and IV to make being competitive easier? A: X&Y will make some of these ideas more visible and intuitive
Q: Depth of customization? A: You can choose hair style, set appearance. PSS shows player icons so chose to allow for custom appearance
– Diagonal movement
– Q: Player movement appears to be 8-way. Why not full analog? A: Keeping a grid-style bc of tracking Pokemon encounters. But freer movement
– Q: Didn’t hear buuut A: Music will have different feel than past games bc it’s less modified/compressed than in older games
– Q: How does Mewtwo change form? Do you want him in Smash? A: -long pause- Can’t explain “Mewthree” Pokemon. Can’t talk about other games
– Sakurai just chimed in (joking) – “We’re thinking about it.”
– Q: New or old villain team? Form of rival? A: “You can expect to see a Team ‘Something'” There’s a Rival, but maybe not just one
– Pokemon X&Y will read your registered friends list from the 3DS system, so the game will automatically have those people as your friends
– Some areas have different types of methods of getting around. (i.e. we’ve seen the grinding and so on). Depends on area
– Flow of battles – seeing opponent’s team ahead of time – is the same as before. You can select the song for the battle though
– Q: Riding Pokemon – benefits? Diff from bike? A: Sounds like you can ‘borrow’ Pokemon to traverse to destinations. Can help open paths too
Activision won’t say if Call of Duty: Ghosts is coming to Wii U, but developer Infinity Ward apparently has no problem making its own confirmation.
During a stage show on GameSpot, executive producer Mark Rubin said that nothing has been said regarding the Wii U version because “we want to keep it mysterious.” Whatever that means.
Rubin said:
“That’s probably in the next-gen bin, but we’re not actually talking about Wii U yet. ‘Cause we want to keep it mysterious.”
Batman: Arkham Origins senior producer Ben Mattes has confirmed that the Wii U version of the game will offer specific functionality on Wii U. Mattes wouldn’t reveal any specifics, but you can probably expect some carry-over from Arkham City, such as off-TV play and unique GamePad implementation.
“We’re not talking about specific features but we’re encouraging people to imagine. We obviously paid to attention to the Wii U platform and what sort of functionality makes sense for that platform.”
Mattes was also asked about Origins DLC on Wii U. To this, he said that Warner Bros. Montreal is “not yet talking about” DLC and how it relates to different platforms.
