Nintendo announces GameCube and Pokemon Colosseum Mega Pak

Nintendo has announced a new GameCube bundle to help commemorate the launch of Pokémon Colosseum next month. The Pokémon Colosseum Mega Pak (a miracle of modern spelling) apparently consists of a black GameCube, a 251-block memory card, a GameCube-to-GBA link cable, and copies of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon Box. You can expect to find it in your local gaming emporium from May 14th onwards priced 159 Euro (presumably £99.99 in the UK).

Unlike Pokémon Channel (released just recently), Pokémon Colosseum has been earning some fairly respectable review scores since its release across the pond, and seems to take its lead from the popular N64 Pokémon Stadium titles, allowing players to upload Pokémon from their GBA Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire titles and use them to face off on the big screen. Pokémon Box, also bundled in the Mega Pak, acts as an extension of the 'Pokédex' Pokémon management feature in the GBA Ruby and Sapphire titles.

All in all it's the sort of package that brings greedy youngsters closer to their hard-working parents, at least for the fifteen minutes it takes to convince them of the inherent 'value' of the whole endeavour. Any kids in the audience busily trying to think of ways to convince Mum to cough up the dinero would do well to try some of the following: "But Mum, it's just like accountancy, except with cuddly toys. It'll be good for me." Failing that, "If you buy me this, I promise I'll stop stealing money from your purse." Or, if all else fails, broach the subject gently, wait to be rebuked, and then ask where babies come from. She'll probably buy you two lots.