July 16^th, 2002 (12:00am) - I’ve always been a big fan of all the Pokemon games that have been released. The games are devoid of all the lighthearted and sometimes corny situations found in the television series and movies. The games have always provide an entertaining story with really cool RPG elements and an array of fighting styles.

Nintendo recently revealed the titles to these two new Gameboy Advance titles. The will be known as Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon and, as we all know, the original Pokemon titles were known as Pokemon Red (Ruby) and Pokemon Blue (Sapphire). The similarities in names leads us to believe that Nintendo is seeking to start off fresh with this new system.

While these new games in the Pokemon series’ don’t exactly attempt to raise the bar graphically for the series, they do offer a completly new battle system. Instead of choosing 6 pokemon to bring along wherever you go, you will instead choose only two. However, you will have the ability to use them together in battle. This allows for many gameplay possibilities, such as special combined attacks which are specific to certain species/type combinations.

Also, in addition to the 100 (excluding Mew) Pokemon found in the original Red/Blue games, and the 150 (excluding Celebi) introduced in the Gold/Silver versions, we will be treated to 100 new species of Pokemon in the Ruby/Sapphire version.

There is currently no U.S. release date, however Japan will see the release of these two games on November 21. Pokemon.com will be releasing a few screenshots of new Pokemon every month until the games’ release. Below are a few that have already been released.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Pelipper.jpg>

Pelipper ** (NEW) TYPE: Water Bird HEIGHT: 3’ 11" WEIGHT: 62 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Samehader.jpg>

Samehader (NEW) TYPE: Ferocious HEIGHT: 5’ 10" WEIGHT: 195 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Kinococo.jpg>

Kinococo ** (NEW) TYPE: Mushroom HEIGHT: 1’ 04" WEIGHT: 9.9 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Yomawaru.jpg>

Yomawaru ** TYPE: Ghost HEIGHT: 1’ 07" WEIGHT: 33 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Volbeat.jpg>

Volbeat TYPE: ?Grass? HEIGHT: 2’ 03" WEIGHT: 39 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Wynaut.jpg>

Wynaut TYPE: ?Psychic? HEIGHT: 1’ 04" (Tail is 1’) WEIGHT: 31 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Hoeruko.jpg>

Wailmer TYPE: ?Water? HEIGHT: ??? WEIGHT: ???

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Kecleon.jpg>

Kecleon TYPE: ?Chameleon? HEIGHT: ??? WEIGHT: ???

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Azurill.jpg>

Azurill TYPE: Water HEIGHT: ??? WEIGHT: ???

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Latias.jpg>

Latias TYPE: Legendary Flying Pokémon HEIGHT: 4’ 07" WEIGHT: 89 lbs.

http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/Pokemon_Latios.jpg>

Latios TYPE: Legendary Flying Pokémon HEIGHT: 6’ 07" WEIGHT: 133 lbs.

** NOTE - Names marked with asterisks are from the Japanese version of the game and are subject to change.