Well, the wait is finally over. Head to your local GameStop and grab Jirachi for your Pokémon Diamond, Pearl or Platinum game!

Hurry! This event only lasts two weeks and is in preparation for the release of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver (making way to your DS on March 14th).

Go! Go now!

You almost never see Pokémon giveaways in the US so close to one another, but soon after the Pikachu-colored Pichu event is done, GameStop will be giving away the super rare Jirachi!

Jirachi has never been given away on US shores, but starting February 27th and going through March 13th, you can walk into any GameStop store across the country with your DS system and copy of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl or Platinum and use the Mystery Gift function to download Jirachi into your game!

Just in time for HeartGold and SoulSilver, too!

This special event Jirachi will come to you at Lvl. 5 and know the moves Rest, Wish, Confusion, and the very powerful Draco Meteor! Jirachi will also be holding a Liechi Berry, one of the rarer berries found in the current generation of Pokémon games.

In addition to being very rare, a player can trade Jirachi over to their copy of HeartGold or SoulSilver for a special surprise on their PokéWalker!

Don’t forget to pre-order your copies of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver at your local gaming store! They’re available March 14th!

Pikachu-colored Pichu is still available at GameStop stores across the United States! The promotion started on January 30th and goes through February 14th! So, if you’ve got a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife who loves Pokémon, you can go together on Valentine’s Day! ;)

Pikachu-colored Pichu is not only rare, but unlocks a secret event when traded to upcoming Pokémon games HeartGold and SoulSilver–when you visit a shrine in Illex Forest, Spiky-Eared Pichu will join your party!

Spiky-Eared Pichu was featured in the Pokémon movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life, but can now be yours via this great event.

Pikachu-colored Pichu is obtained via the Mystery Gift function in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum and comes to you at Lvl. 30, with Volt Tackle, Endure, Endeavor and Charge as its moves and an Everstone item.

Don’t wait! You might not get another chance to get two rare Pokémon for such little effort! Grab your DS, DS Lite or DSi and head to your nearest GameStop store!

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver will be available March 14th, 2010 and if you pre-order a game at GameStop or Game Crazy stores, you’ll also receive a Ho-oh or Lugia figurine with your pre-order and purchase depending on which version you get.

Awright Pokéfans, listen up! While HeartGold and SoulSilver are still hot sellers in Japan, Nintendo has no intention of letting the series flame out. The company announced in Japan today that a new main entry in the franchise is being developed for DS.

Obviously “main entry” means the line of titles that started with simple colours and has since moved on to precious gems. The game is set for a Japanese release this year, four years after the release of Diamond & Pearl’s original Japanese release.

No details on the game was shared except hints of new Pokémon to catch, a new region and some new gameplay concepts. Details are sure to surface quickly due to the 2010 release.

Anybody want to hazzard a guess at how long the Pokémon franchise will continue? Will we be playing new Pokémon games when we’re 50?

The latest Japanese software sales for October 12th – 18th, courtesy of Media-Create. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver topped this week’s charts, to the surprise of… absolutely no-one.

1. Pokemon DS (DS, Ninendo) – 165,000
2. Wii Fit Plus (Wii, Nintendo) – 118,000
3. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii, Nintendo) – 63,000
4. Inazuma Eleven2 DS (DS, Konami) – 60,000
5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3, Sony) – 54,000
6. Okami (Wii, Capcom) – 24,000
7. Wii Sports Resort (Wii, Nintendo) – 23,000
8. Gran Turismo (PSP, Sony) – 22,000
9. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS, Atlus) – 20,000
10. Love Plus (DS, Konami) – 19,000

This is all just a big tease, but it sounds cool non the less. As fun as the Pokémon games have been over the years, they’ve never been as action packed and fast paced as the anime adaptation.

But according to Junichi Masuda, the director of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, there might be a more action oriented Pokémon game on the way.

“… This is just an idea but … as you know, Pokémon is a role-playing game. But, personally, I really like the action type of games, so we just talk about that sometimes. We probably want to add some kind action element to the game,” said Masuda in an interview with Game Informer.

I’d play it. Would you?

Isn’t it strange how a lot of video game rumours turn out to be true?

IGN confirmed recently that Pokémon Gold and Silver will indeed be remade for the Nintendo DS. The remakes will hit Japanese store shelves this Autumn. The remakes will be titled Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. According to IGN there will be a number of updates, but no specifics have yet to be shared.

Looking through the fact sheet of changes from Diamond and Pearl to Platinum, you could get a little letdown. Does a new area, redesigned gyms, and new forms of legendaries really get anyone excited enough to buy the same game again?

Put your hands down fanboys.

Looking back at previous compilation versions of Pokémon you can’t expect too much. Surprising though, Platinum is an experience best played through then talked about. While it doesn’t feel like a wholly new game, it has enough new things and smoothed edges that it’s an enjoyable play through.

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According to Serebii.net there’s a new Pokémon game in the making.

On the Pokémon Sunday variety show website it was annouced that during next week’s episode they will reveal a “world-exclusive bit of news”. The general consensus is that Pokémon Gold and Silver are being remade.

From a sneak preview of the episode, two pokéballs, coloured gold and silver respectively, could be seen hanging from the studio celing. Pokémon Red and Blue was remade in 2004, so it’s not unlikely that Nintendo wants to bring the second generation of Pokémon to a newer handheld generation of players.

From simple colours to precious gems, the Pokémon series has seen at least 3 core games on every generation of Nintendo’s handheld consoles.

For 13 years (going by the Japanese release of Red and Blue) players have been trying to “Catch ‘em all”, with the recent release of Platinum bringing the grand total of core Pokémon games to 14 games, and the total number of obtainable Pokémon to a whopping 493!

There has also been a slew of spin-off games ranging from dungeon crawlers, card battles puzzle games and a racing game, which brings the grand total of games to 32! Even so, the games are still selling like hotcakes among both young and adult gamers, which brings me neatly into this evening’s discussion:

- Have we gotten to a point where there are too many Pokémon, not to mention Pokémon games?

- Do you think the franchise should be put to bed?

Pokemon Platinum, essentially Diamond and Pearl’s “Yellow Version”, sees release in the UK on May 22.

New features in the latest addition to the RPG series includes enhanced Wi-Fi combat and a “brand new Distortion World, governed by neither time nor space”. There’s also “an all-new Battle Frontier, accessible after defeating the Elite Four”.

CVG has more

And to think, some people believe interest in the Pokemon franchise is waning.

Recent figures from Enterbrain indicate that Pokemon Platinum has sold nearly 1 million copies – 967,675 copies to be exact – in its first two days on sale in Japan. Which is… a lot. That has to be some sort of record, surely?

Pokemon Platinum is a updated version of Pokemon Diamond / Pokemon Pearl with a huge number of updates, which include a modified visual design, new pokemon, new locations, and no challenged.

Rather surprisingly, the game doesn’t have any European or US release date yet, which is a bit of an oddity considering how popular “extended” versions of past pokemon games have been in the west. We’ll keep you updated when we find out more.