Nintendo have announced Pokémon X and Y, the next instalments of the massively popular series, coming to 3DS worldwide in October. These are the first entries to be fully 3D, a dream amongst many.

A 90-second trailer has been released in which our beloved friend Pikachu, standing on top of what looks like the Eiffel tower, seemingly electrocutes the entire planet, presumably to zap some teaser game footage into our heads.

TRAILER

After showing off a brand-new style of 3D overworld (no more one-inch tall isometric player characters!), we get a glimpse of the three new generation 6 starters (probably). The grass- type Chespin, a cutesy mole-like creature who seems to be wearing a green woolly hat. The fire-type Fennekin, a bambi-eyed fox equal parts silky and absurdly fluffy. And the water- type Froakie, a small very cartoonish-looking blue frog with glorious white facial hair and a love for listening.

The gut reaction towards seeing these new Mons is to reel in horror and cry that they do not belong, and perhaps in anticipation of that, Nintendo have thrown in footage of plenty of recognisable old faces, confirming the appearance of pre-gen pokes, unlike Black and White which featured only its new roster, much to the chagrin of many.

What looks most exciting to me is the new battle graphics, which seems to have stepped away from the static-sprites-standing-in-a-vaguely-colourful-void model to a truly fully- animated Pokémon Stadium-like set-up, with fully fleshed-out backgrounds. It’s sure to inject oodles of excitement into the combat, particularly those tense and bombastic gym battles.

Finally we get a brief look at two possible legendaries – A flying bird-thing with a glowing red underbelly and a Kyogre-esque pattern, and a Christmas-tree stag with no feet.

Whether you like the prospect of new additions to the Pokémon family or hate it, you’ve got ‘til October 2013 to flail around - and in my case, figure out how to justify the purchase of a 3DS before the games hit stores. 

ANNOUNCEMENT

Jamie O'Flinn