Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver dated

By Robert Purchese Published 19 January, 2010

Includes pedometer to walk with pets.

Nintendo plans to release Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver in Europe on 26th March.

These new instalments (themselves remakes of Gold/Silver on Game Boy Colour) will be bundled with a new Pokéwalker pedometer so you can tend to your digital pets while on the move. This measures the distance you walk and translates the data to the DS. The further you walk, the more experience a Pokémon gains and the closer the bond between player and pet will be. Your in-game Watts currency will be boosted, too.

The Pokewalker is a small red-and-white disc-shaped object that fits easily the palm of a hand. It looks a lot like those tamagotchis of yesteryear, which I suppose is the point.

Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver has been selling by the barrel-load in Japan, where the game launched in September 2009. It has sold sold 3.5m copies there to date.

HG/SS lets players explore the world with, out-of-its-ball Pokémon pet, a bit like that boy did in the cartoon with his friend/slave Pikachu.

There's Wi-Fi support and the game's fully compatible with Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • AphoticCosmos #1 2 years ago

    I might actually have to get a DS for this.

    Yes - Pokemon was that awesome back in the day.

  • Cid #2 2 years ago

    Pokemon G/S was one of those rare instances where a sequel ended up being genuinely better than the first. It also contains what has to be one of the best post-game surprises ever.

    So yes, this will be a bit good.

  • wittynic #3 2 years ago

    Looking forward to it - G/S were the peak of the series. Just hope some of my mates with DS's pick it up to -trading and battling mates is more fun than wifi strangers!

  • Vice.Destroyer #4 2 years ago

    The game was released in Japan in September 2009? And is being released in europe a full 6 months later? I am suddenly having flashbacks to the days when I used to be affected by unfavourable release schedules for games when I used to be a card carrying Nintendo devotee.

    /glad I am no longer a fan of Pokemon. I would have been fuming

  • Monkey_Puncher #5 2 years ago

    I wouldn't want to swap my Pokemons with a pedo either

  • Mkwone #6 2 years ago

    Moo, Moo, Moooooo

    I say, is that a herd of cash cows i hear?

  • Stomp224 #7 2 years ago

    Paedometer? A bit like the Aliens motion tracker, but it tells you if Gary Glitter is nearby?

  • DFawkes #8 2 years ago

    I love Pokemon, it's still one of my favorite RPGs - specifically Pokemon Gold 7 Silver, so I'm especially pleased about these being released!

    I might even use the pedometer and walk more than I would. I'll have to hide it though, I can't see a 24 year old man with a colourful Pokemon belt clip becoming the height of fashion. That's what pockets are for :)

  • Cid #9 2 years ago

    @Vice.Destroyer

    To be fair, it is a near-simultaneous release with the US, which is a first for the series.

  • Vice.Destroyer #10 2 years ago

    Well, I suppose that is progress. Which is good. I shan't rant anymore. At least it is coming to the west, which is a good thing.

  • Eraysor #11 2 years ago

    Cannot wait for this. The pedometer thing is absolute genius.

  • 52pickup #12 2 years ago

    Yet another game out in March and on the same day as GOW 3 no less. March certainly won't be boring that's for sure.

  • WinterSnowblind #13 2 years ago

    Yeah, the fact this is coming out less than two weeks after the US vesion is pretty amazing. In the past it's been 4-8 months, and this'll be the first time since the original Red/Blue versions that I haven't just imported the game from America.

    And once again I really have to praise the idea of the Pokewalker. Being able to catch, train and gain items while not even playing the game is a great method of keeping people interested in the game and encourages kids to be a bit more active. ..Though I'm sure most of them will just shake the thing up and down.

  • alcides #14 2 years ago

    Gold and Silver are simply the best games in the series. Discovering new species was a joy I harldly found in RSE or PDP. The new critters were well designed, gameplay was enhanced rather than overburdened with stupid things like double type combinations that make the whole elements systems virtually useless and special abilities that are hardly ever useful and slow down battles considerably.

    Yay for the straightforward, heartfelt, generous (kanto!!) Gold and Silver.

    I never really got the advance series right, they lacked spirit if anything. The contests were a stroke of genius, but DS entries spoiled a perfectly good game design in that department... Figures. Finally, the general design of the monsters gets repetitive and bland with every other sequel.