5th Genereation confirmed?

[Josiah]

As for the lack of rooms and beds in houses, I could easily attribute it to the artists wanting to save some time. Or I could give it a Japanese explanation. In Japan small apartments and houses often only have a couple of rooms. Because of that, one room tends to serve as the living room, dining room, and bedroom. Since normal beds take up a lot of space (and aren't traditional Japanese anyway) it's common that, instead of an actual bed, people will sleep on futons which are rolled up and stored in closests during the day.

[SuzuTitor]

Except Isshu is supposed to be the "America" of the Pokemon world...

What I'd like to know is, why is it always the son/daughter that gets to claim the only bedroom in the house?

[Josiah]

Well, haven't played B/W yet so I can't comment on Isshu, but the houses in the previous Pokémon games always had a very Japanese look to them. But yeah, that's a good question. You'd think if the house had only one bedroom the parents would get it. I'm gonna assume that there's another bedroom somewhere up those stairs, you just don't get to see it.

[Winters Rage]

Atleast in Red and Ruby you could argue that they never slept because it was always day time XD

[SuzuTitor]

English starter names revealed.
Tsutaaja - Snivy
Mijumaru - Oshawott
Pokabu - Tepig

The Isshu region is now the Unova region.

Honestly, this is the first thing that popped in my mind once I heard Mijumaru's new name:

[Kaida]

They're really starting to run out of ideas for names arn't they. Oshawott is decent, Snivy is okay but I still like Tsutaja better, and Tepig is just facepalm.

I fear for what they will name my Choroneko.

Also they haven't renamed any of the other regions, why start now?

[Josiah]

For me anyway, coming up with good names is one of the harder parts of writing so I can't really blame them for running out of ideas. It is weird that they renamed the region though.

[Silver]

Yeah, so I... really hate the name change of region. Like I really hate it. So Isshu is a little bit more America-inspired than the previous regions, right? Just a bit. And so they change it from Isshu - which, I'll admit, sounds quite a bit like "issue" and would be a bit weird - to... Unova. UN ov A. Just...

Also I raged a little at the Zekrom Reshiram thing... they were the "Yin Pokemon" and the "Yang Pokemon" respectively, with them being opposite to what you'd expect. Black one is Yin, White one is Yang, all that. Now they... aren't. Zekrom is now "Deep Black" and Reshiram is "Vast White". That kinda goes against the original ironic intentions, doesn't it? Totally defeats the purpose. What, is having them not match to "dark and edgy" for kids? Because, you know, Team Galactic totally wasn't, with them wanting to destroy the world and re-create it and all. If they censor the storyline, I'm gonna be pissed. That's the main selling point of these games, they better not screw it up...

[Zovesta]

I'm not bothered by the names. Then again, I will only be playing the game for Kokoromori and Koromori. =V Release faster, now!

[SuzuTitor]

So apparently, an English patch has been in the works with the fear that NoA might edit and censor some plot points. The patch is at 90% right now and translates all menu-related text and nearly all story text. For those who want an early start on Pokemon BW, enjoy.

[Josiah]

Official North American release date is March 6th. Looks like I really should get down to finishing Heart Gold soon... Though, since I'll be in Japan in March, I probably won't be able to get my copy until at least a week or two after release.

[Zovesta]

March 6th? That means I'll have to wait until Christmas. Curse my inconvenient birthday! It just has to be right after Christmas! Oh well.

I, personally, am in favour of the newest back sprites. Nice that we'll actually be seeing the whole Pokemon. Anyone else in favour?

[Josiah]

I'm all for better sprites, but what they really need is new pokémon voices.

[Silver]

What good does being in favor do? It's not like they'll take them out if we don't like them.

I really don't care either way...They look great, but they aren't treated right. By which I mean, battle camera still focuses more on the opposing Pokemon, so back sprites end up looking pixelated. Battles do look great overall because the camera actually moves a bit, and the full back sprites are a nice touch, but they don't... really... matter. If I cared about pretty graphics in my Pokemon games, I wouldn't still list G/S/C as the best set.

Also... old Pokemon cries shouldn't be an issue this time, since there aren't any old Pokemon. The only ones you can catch through all of the main story are the 150 new 5th Gen Pokemon. Others don't come until later and in the "Dream World".

[SuzuTitor]

I'll just leave this here.
http://pokebeach.com/2011/01/all-black- ... y-revealed

Enjoy those Woobats.

EDIT: These names were confirmed by IGN:

* Desukaan will be Cofagrigus
* Mogurew will be Drilbur
* Kibago will be Axew
* Koromori will be Woobat
* Minezumi will be Patrat
* Gothiruselle will be Gothitelle
* Ranculus will be Reuniclus
* Wargle will be Braviary
* Musharna keeps its name

EDIT: I see Pinite and Emboar there, and I'm calling those two fake. Fan names that have been around for a while.