BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Pokemon USA, Inc., a worldwide leader in trading card games, today announced the U.S. release of the Pokemon Trading Figure Game (TFG), slated to hit stores on September 19. This marks the latest milestone in the Pokemon collectible gaming evolution since the release of the phenomenally successful Pokemon Trading Card Game in Japan in 1996. The first set of figures released will include more than 40 popular Pokemon characters and Trainer figures; select booster sets will include Pokemon from the recent Pokemon Trading Card Game: Diamond & Pearl release.

Gameplay includes a dynamic spinning mechanism for each Pokemon that lets players send their figures into battle against one another in an entirely new way. By mixing and matching figures, players can expand their battle choices right from the beginning, encouraging a similar sport and strategy as practiced in the world-renowned Pokemon Trading Card Game. The TFG is easy to learn and play, and is appropriate for players age eight and older.

"Pokemon fans reacted with great enthusiasm to early previews in the U.S.," said Tsunekaz Ishihara, president and CEO, The Pokemon Company, and co-creator of both the TFG and the original Pokemon Trading Card Game. "The high quality of the figures, the collectible nature of the game, and the exciting mechanism for battle were all very popular with players of all ages. We feel we have created a truly distinctive game that will carry on Pokemon's tradition of excellence."

The two Pokemon TFG starter sets include basic rules that will have fans playing in minutes: a two-player arena playmat, Trainer cards, and four different dynamic figures, including a Trainer figure. Boosters will expand gameplay and add new figures and Trainer cards to players' collections. The starter sets will be priced at $14.99 and the boosters at $3.49 for one figure, $6.99 for two figures (including a random mystery figure) and a Trainer card, and $9.99 for three figures, including a random mystery figure and one of three special promo figures (Chimchar, Piplup, or Turtwig) from the Diamond & Pearl release as well as a Trainer card. Future expansions-with additional popular Pokemon to increase the possibilities for battles-are under development.

Figures were sculpted with care by Kaiyodo Co., Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, which has been a manufacturer of original, limited-edition assembly-type plastic models for more than 40 years. In addition to the upcoming Pokemon TFG, Kaiyodo produces a wide variety of other popular model lines for enthusiasts all over the world.

For more information and updates on the Pokemon TFG, fans can visit
http://www.go-pokemon.com.

Nintendo has just announced that over ten million copies of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have been sold since the titles were release in September 2006. Last week the games were released in Europe which should drive sales even higher. Nintendo also announced that more than 1 million games were sold within the first five days in Europe.

Here are some facts from the First half of this year:
-In June alone, Nintendo DS was the top-selling video game system overall with nearly 608,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined (562,000 United States, 46,000 Canada).
- The three best-selling games in the United States for all of 2007 are for Nintendo systems: Pokemon Diamond, Wii Play and Pokemon Pearl.

Top Selling Games in June:
1. Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 426,000
2. Wii Play (Wii) - 291,200
3. Pokemon Diamond (DS) - 288,400
4. Pokemon Pearl (DS) - 214,700

These figures show that Pokemon was the best selling game franchise in June 2007. So how long until Pokemon Diamond and Pearl overtakes Mario as the best selling video franchise of all time?

Source: Famitsu
Source: nintendoworldreport.com

It's been a few months since the USA launch and almost a year since the games were released in Japan, but now Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have been released in Europe. It seems somewhat strange that the games were delayed this long in Europe. Nintendo really needs to focus on doing worldwide launches of it's flagship titles like Pokemon. Below is a brief article on the UK release that featured British Pop Band McFly at the launch event.

Pokemon freaks attack London Pokemon fans crammed into Hamleys in central London this afternoon where Nintendo held a special Pokemon event to mark the launch of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. Events unfolded at the Game store inside Hamleys on Regents Street, where Pika-lovers queued to get their hands on one of the 200 copies of the game Nintendo made available at 6pm - six hours before the official launch. Pop Rock band McFly also turned up, drawing in crowds of 14-year-old girls pretending to be Pokemon fans, and even purchasing a copy of the game, just so they could get a signature out of the four young lads. Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com Imageboard Thread: Photos from the Event

On Saturday July 21st, 2007, GameStop sponsored by Nintendo held a Pokemon Battle Revolution tournament in many of their stores across the United States. 1st place received a copy of Pokemon Battle Revolution (Wii) and a t-shirt, 2nd place received a Pokemon t-shirt while everyone that attended received a bookmark.

Many people are now reporting that the tournaments were marred with countless cheaters using Action Replay or PokeSav to adjust the stats and abilities of their Pokemon. It is unfortunate that people are willing to cheat in order to win but unfortunately Nintendo hasn't done much to stop it. Many people have discussed that they reported cheaters but to little or no response from the tournament hosts. Other people have also reported that some GameStop stores were in fact checking for Action Replayed Pokemon and not allowing them to participate in the tournament. Hopefully if more tournaments are held in the future, there will be more methods to disallow cheaters from participating.

We hope those of you that did go had a great time battling other Pokemon fans and didn't have a bad experience like some of these players had.

The following forums have some of the experiences that people had at the tournament.
Serebii PBR GameStop Tournament Thread: http://www.serebiiforums.com/
PokeCommunity PBR GameStop Tournament Thread: http://www.pokecommunity.com/

It's not very often that we get statistics for Canadian video game sales, so it makes these figures all the more exciting. These figures show that Pokemon is still very popular in Canada not just North American in general. WiiPlay, which is bundled with a Wiimote, was the best selling title in Canada for the first half of 2007.

Canadian Video Game Sales Up 61% The best selling game isn't hockey! The game industry is doing quite well up North as well. NPD data shows that total industry sales in Canada have reached $498 million, a 61 percent increase over the $310 million generated during the same time period last year. NPD noted that "all categories experienced exponential growth" for the first half of 2007. Video game hardware sales (both console and portable) climbed to more than $205 million, representing a 111 percent increase year-over-year. Furthermore, combined video game software sales (portable and console) totalled $205.5 million, accounting for 46 percent of total industry sales in Canada. The best selling game in Canada for the first six months of the year was Wii Play, followed by Pokemon Diamond, Xbox Value Pack, Pokemon Pearl and God of War II. "The video game industry in Canada is strong and continues to perform extraordinarily well," said Darrel Ryce, Director of Technology and Entertainment, The NPD Group. "This marks the fifth consecutive mid-year time period in Canada when sales were higher than the same time period from the previous year. What is so exceptional about year-to-date 2007 is that the growth is so significant."

Source: http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/news/?id=16894

The FCC is clamping down on inappropriate shows/commercials on TV and it appears that they aren't just focusing on currently broadcasting videos. WPIX New York is the latest to be fined by the FCC which says WPIX has to pay a $15,000 fine for violating its limits on TV advertising in kids shows eight times.

Pokemon Ad Bites WPIX By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable Another former WB affiliate has fallen victim to the GameBoy E-reader ad. The latest is WPIX(TV) New York, which the FCC says has to pay a $15,000 fine for violating its limits on TV advertising in kids shows eight times. Including in those eight violationg is six program-length commercials, five of which involved the Pokemon E-Reader ad. The FCC has fined several stations tens of thousands of dollars for violations that included the Pokemon ad, which aired back in 2002 during a show that no longer exists--Pokemon--on a network that no longer exists--The WB. The FCC says that the appearance of a cartoon character in an advertisement that runs during a show that features that character, turns the whole show into an ad.. Since shows are about 22 minutes long and kids shows can have no more than 12 minutes of ads in an entire hour--10.5 on weekends--that becomes a major overage and, in the FCC's view, a serious violation. In response to the finding, WPIX argued, as have several stations before it, that the appearance of the Pokemon character lasted less than a second and only included the letters "mon" on one of six fanned cards, with the Pokemon character not appearing at all or named in the audio. WPIX also used the argument, also tried before to no avail, that the FCC's ruling that a fleeting "Fuck Cops" sign on Amazing Race was not indecent was precedential. The FCC was not convinced, saying "we believe that, in the context of the cognitive abilities of young children, there is the potential for confusion between the GameBoy commercial and the “Pokemon” program regardless whether any “Pokemon” character is depicted given the image of a “Pokemon” game card contained in the commercial and the consequent likelihood that children may associate it with the program." The FCC also said, once again, that the indecency decision was not on point because it did not deal with "the co-mingling of program content and commercial matter." The FCC has a benchmark of $10,000 for kids TV ad violations, which it can adjust up or down. It went up this time, citing the number of program-length commercials.

Source: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/109572-Pokemon_Ad_Bites_WPIX.php