Pokémon Ranger announced
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A scan from the latest CoroCoro reveals several new details about the upcoming Nintendo DS games, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and also reveals the title of a new project for 2006 titled "Pokémon Ranger: The Path to Diamond and Pearl." The scan features an interview with Tsunekazu Ishihara, the producer, Junichi Masuda, the director, and the art/graphic director, Ken Sugimori, all of whom are involved in the development of Diamond and Pearl.
According to a translation by Coronis, the scan points out that Diamond and Pearl will be released in Japan in 2006, not in late 2005 as many fans previously speculated. Also planned for 2006 is another project meant to coincide with Diamond and Pearl, titled "Pokémon Ranger: The Path to Diamond and Pearl." This project will become the title of a new TV anime series and movie, replacing the anime's current title of "Advanced Generation." A short preview of the Pokémon Ranger movie is expected to be aired at the end of the July 16 premiere of the eighth movie, Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero: Lucario. It is currently unknown whether or not Pokémon Ranger will be a game or simply a title for the anime, although signs point to it being a game.
Also included in the article were many aspects that will be featured in Diamond and Pearl. These include:
- Diamond and Pearl are confirmed to be on the DS, and both games will be released at the same time.
- The games will be able to connect to the Pokémon games for Game Boy Advance and GameCube, and Pokémon from these older games can be traded to the new games.
- There will be a great number of new Pokémon, including pre-evolutions and new evolutions for exisiting Pokémon.
- Lucario will be in the games, but its role may be different than in the eighth movie.
- The games take place in a brand-new region, and CoroCoro hints that it may be high-tech, akin to Orre.
- It is possible that the way one starts the games will be different than in past games, where players pick one of three starter Pokémon and then fill their team with five more Pokémon. The men interviewed said everything is up for discussion.
- The games will take advantage of the DS's touch screen and its ability to link sixteen players together simultaneously.
- There will be no new types, but rather new type combinations, like Lucario's Steel/Fighting combination.
