"New Pokémon world," Nintendo classics headed to Game Boy Advance

[03.07.01] » Pokémon sequel confirmed for Game Boy Advance in 2002, "E-Card" reader unveiled, three new Pokémon debuted, Metroid port announced, and more.

    Nintendo raised the stakes markedly for Game Boy Advance today with a series of dramatic franchise announcements. Atsushi Asada, Executive Vice President of NCL, stated that Nintendo would release a slew of the company's most revered games on the Game Boy Advance, mentioning "games like Metroid, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and Yoshi's Story." None of these titles is confirmed for the U.S. market, but that step should be little more than a quick formality.

GBA E-Card Reader

    The other bombshells were dropped by Tsunekazu Ishihara, General Producer of Pokémon and President of Creatures Inc., the company behind development for the unstoppable franchise. The next main series Pokémon game will be released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002 and take advantage of a new peripheral known as the E-Card Reader.

    Special types of Pokémon E-Cards will hold various information on everyone's favorite creatures, including stats, evolutions, and sounds. The cards use Olympus' Scan Talk technology, which includes a type of barcode that holds several hundred times the amount of data found in normal barcodes.

    The cards themselves will be an offshoot of the ever-popular Pokémon trading card game, and when a new line of E-Cards is released, gamers will be able to use the E-Card Reader to receive tutorial information on new attacks and strategies. The cards will still function normally when used to play the traditional version of Pokémon card game.

Close up of prototype E-Card

    "This game will be very important and will be the origin of a new Pokémon World," said Ishihara.

    Ishihara also debuted three new creatures and a new trainer from the next chapter in the series. The game will be featured in the next Pokémon movie, entitled "Celebi: Encounter Over Time." The official descriptions and Japanese names follow:

• Luri Luri - Based on its size and shape, it appears that this Pokémon could be a pre-evolution of another Pokémon ...
• Kakureon - In Japanese, the name Kakureon suggests that this Pokémon could be good at Hide 'n' Seek (not part of the Eevee family).
• Hoeruko - It appears that this Pokémon could have a gigantic body, but with nothing to compare it to it could be smaller than it looks.
• Boy Trainer - The last image displayed was a picture of a mysterious boy trainer, perhaps the star of Pokémon Game Boy Advance??