Nintendo of America, The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), and Nortel LearniT teamed up to bring cute creatures from the Nintendo DS titles Pokemon Diamond/Pearl to elementary and middle school students for them to learn science in a fun way. In the spirit of the Pokemon Learning League, Nintendo and its partners aim to teach students using familiar imagery.

Check out what Nintendo of America and its partners have in store for students at the full article.

Nintendo Australia teamed up with electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi to help Aussie Pokemon fans catch 'em all by offering rare monster Manaphy for free. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl owners can bring their Nintendo DS with the game cards to JB Hi-Fi stores where they can acquire the new Pokemon via wireless download.

The promo runs November 7 to November 13 to celebrate the release of Pokémon Movie 9: Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea where Manaphy makes an appearance. One Cherish Ball, the special Poke Ball available only from special events, is also included in the give-away.

Manaphy boasts of an exclusive move called Heart Swap, which should prove to be helpful as it swaps healing effects with other Pokemon in your roster. If you live in Australia, have already obtained your Pokedex, and are playing the English version of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl, then drop by the local JB Hi-Fi store. More details and instructions can be found on Nintendo Australia's website via Read link below.

Buy: [ Pokemon Pearl ]
Buy: [ Pokemon Diamond ]

Do you have an overwhelming need to "catch 'em all?" Well, if you're a fan of the cutesy cult classic known as Pokemon then you'll be pleased to know that the game is going global in more ways than one.
 
The Pokemon Global Trade Station website, which went online last September 14, features a world-wide trading system where players can deposit the Pokemon they've collected from Pokemon Diamond or Pokemon Pearl through the Nintendo Wi-Fi network. Anybody logged into the site can then search for and keep track of any Pokemon they want to add to their collection.

The GTS utilizes a handy search and tracking system which record the stats, moves and all the relevant data of any Pokemon stored on the site. Then, much like a typical DS to DS trading procedure, you can download the desired Pokemon and complete the transfer to your handheld.

This definitely moves up the whole concept originally conceived in the Pokemon series where trading and sharing your little digital critters improve the enjoyability and playability of the game. So, what are you waiting for? Hop on to the site and see what else you're missing from your list of nearly 500 Pokemon.

Nintendo of America Ltd. has come out with a press release stating that the strong sales of both the Wii and Nintendo DS have helped strengthen one of their major franchises, namely Pokemon. This isn't a one way thing though, as the popularity of the franchise also helped in the selling of consoles.

 

As a testament to the the franchise's popularity on both consoles, DS exclusives Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl have already sold three million copies in the U.S. while Pokemon Battle Revolution is currently the fifth best selling game on the Wii. Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications George Harrison commented on this symbiotic relationship:

These hard numbers show that the Pokemon franchise and Nintendo's systems are striking a chord with players of all ages and drawing in huge numbers of new players year after year. But anecdotally we're also seeing that these new Pokemon games are appealing to older players, the same ones who played the original Pokemon games when they debuted in the United States almost 10 years ago.

Historically speaking, Pokemon has always had a strong following ever since it debuted in Japan. The numbers have swelled since then as more countries have been invaded by the Pokemon craze. The number of fans are still climbing as of this article's writing so it's pretty safe to assume that we can expect to hear more good things from this franchise.

Let's face it - cute, cuddly monsters with freakish powers beats angst, bespectacled wizard trainees any day. Taking the lead in UK's most recent Chart Track all-format poll ending July 28 is Nintendo's Pokemon Diamond for the DS, with Activision's Transformers: The Game taking second place.     

For the PlayStation 3, Resistance: Fall of Man appears to be holding to the number 10 post, while Forza MotorSport 2 for the Xbox 360 tailgates along at 11th.

• Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo)
• Transformers: The Game (Activision)
• Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Electronic Arts)
• Shrek the Third (Activision)
• The Darkness (Take-Two)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts)
• New Super Mario Brothers (Nintendo)
• Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End (Disney Interactive Studios)
• Resistance: Fall of Man (Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft)
• Rugby 08 (Electronic Arts)
• Mario Striker Charged Football (Nintendo)
• MotorStorm (Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Spider-Man 3 (Activision)
• Tomb raider: Anniversary (Eidos)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo)
• Tom Clancy's rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft)
• Transformers: The Game - Autobot (Activision)
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (Nintendo)    

It's official: Worldwide sales of the extremely popular Nintendo DS games Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl have combined to hit the 10 million unit mark, further solidifying the franchise's claim as one of the all-time best sellers.

The two games are often considered as one installment in the series, but with different Pokemon to see and capture in adherence to the tradition initiated by the original Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. As usual, you take on the role of a single Pokemon trainer who's out there to be the very best (like no one ever was). Team Rocket, like always, is up to no good and you're going to have to teach them another lesson in pain.

The game was released in September of last year in Japan and was offered to American and European markets earlier in 2007. New features such as a headset that supports voice features and online play added some new areas to explore for veterans of the series. Creator Satoshi Tajiri must be flashing his million dollar smile right now.

It seems that Pokemon fever still runs strong in the veins of every UK-borne Pokemaniac, as the special event held to herald the UK release of Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl was overran with fans - six hours before the actual launch started, even.

We get you all the details on the events that unfolded during that fateful day: By the time the launch itself was declared open to the public, the Game Store inside Hamleys was already packed with Pokemaniacs of all shapes, sizes and ages - all of them queuing up to nab one of the 200 copies made available by Nintendo itself.

With mascots of the three starter Pokemon - Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig - making their appearance, as well as Pop Rock band McFly providing a soundtrack to the occasion, a good time was had by all, fortunately with no mob-related injuries.

Certainly good news that fellow Pokemon fans are still keeping the faith despite the game being released months after the rest of the world got their copies. Updates as we get them, and in the meantime, why not peruse our official review of the game?


Buy: [Pokemon Pearl]
Buy: [Pokemon Diamond]

European gamers who have been itching to get a crack at Pokemon Pearl or Pokemon Diamond, rejoice for it will be launched in London this July 26 at 6 p.m. on Hamleys Regent Street. It was said that 200 lucky fans will not only be able to get their hands on a copy of the game a day early, but a chance to meet chart topping sensation McFly who will be making a special appearance at the event.

If you're planning on going to the limited pre-sale event, here are a few things you should know. Fans will need to pre-order their copy of Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl now at GAME at Hamleys. The first 200 customers to pre-order either version of the game will be allowed access to the signing.

Furthermore, the said 200 will be made up of 100 Diamond pre-orders and 100 Pearl. Entry to this signing will only be allowed with a valid wristband. Entrants must pre-order their copy in-store to register their name and may collect their wristband from 11 a.m. on the day from the GAME area on Hamleys.

If you didn't luck out in securing an invite, don't worry. Both versions of the game will be out on July 27 for 24.99 GBP (about US$ 51).

Buy: [Pokemon Pearl]
Buy: [Pokemon Diamond]

We guess you are all familiar with software and hardware sales pointing out Nintendo's dominance in Japan as well as some countries in the West with its Wii and DS consoles. This next one still concerns charts actions but is set in a different market: Canada.

Yup, be proud because it looks like Nintendo is indeed taking the whole world by storm and the way things are going, it has no plans of slowing down. Based from the recent data provided to Canadian press members, June belonged to Nintendo as it secured the top three software spots, not to mention 10 titles being included in the top 12.

Mario Party 8 is the most preferred game by our Canadian friends, followed closely by Wii Play. The number three position was occupied by Pokemon Pearl while its twin Pokemon Diamond ended on the fifth spot. On the other hand, the number four position was taken by Xbox 360 racing game Forza Motorsport 2.

The highest entry to the June chart was Capcom's Resident Evil 4 at number seven, which is not actually a surprise given the game's success lately. If you want to go further into the charts, two more Nintendo games made it to the top 20 bringing the total to 12.

The remaining eight spots were shared by Xbox 360 with three titles, four PlayStation 2 games, and just one for the PlayStation 3.

According to the NPD Group monthly performance report, Nintendo continues to lead the US hardware sales charts this May, after a successful run back in April for the DS and Wii. Sony tails second with its PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation 2 (PS2), while the Xbox 360 sits calmly at number five. The PlayStation 3 (PS3) still hasn't broken 100,000 units, but is followed closely by the Game Boy Advance (GBA) and the GameCube (NGC).

Michael Pachter's estimated numbers for the May report seem a bit over the top, as neither the PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii approximations have been reflected in the official monthly numbers for the US. Pachter's views of the game industry's performance were slightly underhanded, however, as NPD reports a stunning 50% increase in performance as opposed to the Wedbush Morgan analyst's 20%.

Despite a slight dip for April sales performance, if the numbers continue to reel in for the succeeding months, Game Daily believes that 2007 just might be a record-breaking year. And as NPD reports, its almost all because of the console hardware sales for the month of May alone: a whole 79% increase in sales to US$ 221.4 million.

Nintendo is also enjoying great sales performance in the software side, with Pokemon Diamond, Mario Party 8, Pokemon Pearl, and Wii Play taking in four of the five top spots in the top ten games list. Four Xbox 360 titles make up the other half of the list, while PS2 titles make up the minority.

Click on Full Article to view the hardware and software sales list for the month of May.