Nintendo confirms the inevitable; parents across the land weep uncontrollably.
According to Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nintendo is planning to release a GameCube version of its child-hypnotizing, cash-sucking RPG series, Pokemon, in Japan before this summer.
Details are still scarce on this as-of-yet untitled game (we"ll call it Pokemon GC from here on out), but the newspaper did release two very important points, (cash-conscious parents, sit down before you read the second one):
- Pokemon GC will retail for less than the cost of a standard first party Game Boy Advance game (4,800 yen, or about $40).
- Pokemon GC will only operate when coupled with a Game Boy Advance and one of the two upcoming GBA Pokemon games (Ruby and Sapphire, both due out in March in the U.S.).
Judging from the info released thus far, it sounds like Pokemon GC may wind up as more of a supplementary disc for owners of the GBA games (along the lines of the N64 Pokemon Stadiums) rather than a full-on "real" RPG.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were released in Japan on Nov. 21 and have already sold through an alarming 2.7 million copies.