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Pokémon Red, Blue, And Yellow Arrive In February As Part Of 20th Anniversary
This year marks Pokémon's 20th anniversary, and the year is filled with festivities for fans. To celebrate Pikachu and company, The Pokémon Company has a long list of events planned.
In November, Nintendo announced that the original trio of Game Boy Pokémon games is coming to the 3DS. Red, Blue, and Yellow will be available via the eShop on February 27.
Additionally, Nintendo will be selling a New 3DS with faceplates bearing the box art for Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue and the 20th anniversary logo. The handheld will come pre-loaded with both games, and a code for a home theme will be bundled in. The New 3DS bundle will be out on February 27, also.
Later this year, The Pokémon Company will also be holding special retail giveaways. By bringing your 3DS and a copy of Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, Pokémon Omega Ruby, or Pokémon Alpha Sapphire to a GameStop location (Disclosure: GameStop is Game Informer's parent company), you'll be able to get Mew, Darkrai, Arceus, and Genesect.
February 27 is also Pokémon Day. If you visit a Toys 'R' Us location, you can get foil Pikachu and Magikarp cards from the upcoming Generations expansion. You can also get an activity book and poster featuring the original 151 pocket monsters.
For those that want to revisit the cartoon, The Pokémon Company will be making 12 different movies available via a number of distribution platforms. These include Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and Pokémon 3: The Movie.
This year will also see the release of fighting game Pokkén Tournament on Wii U and Pokémon Go on mobile devices. The only thing that's missing from this lineup right now is a brand new main entry in the series on 3DS or something similar on Wii U.
Our Take
Pokémon continues to dominate the 3DS sales lists, and I have no doubt that the Game Boy re-releases will do quite well. It's a wonder though that the series has never fully transitioned to Wii U, especially in an age of connected consoles that would allow for battling among friends. At least we don't need a Game Boy link cable anymore when playing the latest versions.
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