The structure of releases in the Pokémon series has always stood defiantly in the face of reason. Installments in the series aren't games, they're "Generations," each of which include two simultaneously released, nearly identical titles, and a third nearly identical title which launches a couple of years after the first two. On top of all of this, the gameplay, story and core mechanics of the game remain extremely similar throughout these "Generations." As a cynic would likely remark, Nintendo has released the same game about 14 times now.Pokémon Platinum is the companion piece to 2007's Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Following in the vein of other third wheels in former generations (such as Pokémon Yellow or Crystal), it leans heavily upon the framework of its predecessors, marginally improving the game's overall aesthetic and adding a handful of new features. But are these minor tweaks enough to justify purchasing an updated RPG that many of you likely purchased two years ago?

Continue reading Joystiq Review: Pokemon Platinum

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Sega just sent out an announcement that should give classic rock fans a jolt of excitement. The publisher announced that High Voltage's The Conduit will feature new guitar music composed by Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen. This is presumably in addition to the score from composer Diego Stocco. "We were very excited to get the chance to work with Rick on The Conduit," said High Voltage's Eric Nofsinger. "Even though he's known for driving rock guitar, he was able to provide great ambience and textural qualities that perfectly fits the mood of the game and helps it become a truly unique experience." For his part, Nielsen said simply, "I hope these lunar notes float with you." We hope that High Voltage takes a "lunar note" from Nielsen and puts five-necked guitars in the game as weapons.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Holy crap, you guys really like your Rock Band. A press release, citing NPD figures, has confirmed the franchise has generated $1 billion dollars in retail sales in North America alone since its November 20, 2007 release. If you thought that was crazy (it really isn't, considering Guitar Hero already surpassed the $1 billion mark), know that wannabe rockers have downloaded over 40 million premium songs from the Rock Band store. We can't say we blame you, as there are some pretty great songs to choose from.Sadly, the press release doesn't tell us what songs were most popular, nor does it tell us what platforms people were downloading the most songs on, but we have a feeling we know what will be the most downloaded song. You heard it here first, folks!Permalink | Email this | Comments

Okay, let's take stock. We got a new Zelda, the Wii "Storage Solution" (which is actually better than Nintendo originally made it out to be), and arcade games and Final Fantasies on Virtual Console. How could this GDC get any better for Nintendo fans? How about Professor Layton 2?At Level-5's panel, director Akihiro Hino showed a list of current projects, including Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, an English translation of the name of the second Layton game. Later, during the Q&A, someone asked Hino if the sequel was being localized for North America and Europe. Hino responded that he wants to release all six Laytons (including the new trilogy), and that Diabolical Box is indeed in the midst of localization -- he hopes to have it out in six months.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments