poketitle

Perhaps tired of naming their Pokémon games after colours, Japanese video game heavyweight Nintendo yesterday announced its newest iteration in the popular pocket monster collect-em-up: Pokémon X and Y.

Boasting an all-new visual design, player perspective and a host of new creatures to capture and battle with, it’s sure to a hit with fans and newcomers alike.

Here’s Nintendo president Satoru Iwata giving a slightly awkward, but thoroughly informative, presentation and looking back over the previous titles in the series. It’s easy to forget just how long this series has been running. Skip to 07:20 for footage of the new game.

“Discover a breathtaking 3-D world! Encounter new pokémon! Your new 3-D Pokémon adventure is about to begin!”

Are you excited yet? Japan’s gaming community certainly is, with online message boards lighting up with excitement and otaku speculation just minutes after the game’s announcement:

New Pokemoooon!

XY!? What does XY mean!?

Maybe X and Y are pokémon? So should we expect Z soon?

And let’s not forget that this one will be in 3-D!

Yeah, maybe X, Y and Z refer to the three dimensions?

Aaaah, that fox is so cute! Want!

A new Pokémon game!? I haven’t got through Pokémon Black and White yet!

It may just be existing fans getting excited at this moment in time but there are plenty of of them out there. As one Japanese Internet user pointed out, the topics trending on Twitter were almost all Pokémon related shortly after the news broke:

pokemon twitter trends

There is bound to be much more Pokémon news still to come between now and the game’s worldwide release in October this year, but for now we’ll leave you with a few shots from the new title. Start saving those pennies, kids!

▼Rollerskating around town? Now that’s a new one!

Pokemon X and Y street scene

▼A wild Pikachu appeared! You know what to do!

Pokemon X and Y

▼The pocket monsters are divided by elemental class as usual

Pokemon X and Y screen grab 1

▼The game’s visual overhaul is a welcome change

Pokemon X and Y country road

And for those of you who’d like to practice your Japanese, here’s the official announcement – with Mr. Iwata looking much less awkward – in Nintendo’s mother tongue:

Source / images: はちま起稿 Title image edited by RocketNews24

YouTube videos: Nintendo Direct JP Nintendo Direct UK