Game shops throughout Gainesville are preparing for Nintendo’s global release of Pokémon X and Y, slated for Saturday.
Pokémon X and Y will be the first Pokémon games released for the Nintendo 3DS and will be the first fully 3-D Pokémon game in the official franchise.
The GameStop location on Archer Road has recorded more than 1,000 pre-orders of Pokemon X and Y, said sales associate Marcus Johnson. The location will open its doors to customers tonight at 10 p.m., but customers will not be able to receive their copies until midnight.
Kyle Varnadore, store manager of R.U. Game, 5186 SW 34th St., has been eagerly waiting for the release.
“I’ve even bought the new special edition X and Y 3DS consoles for myself,” he said.
Twenty-two-year-old UF mechanical engineering senior Wen Chen plans to buy Pokémon X. He expects the game to be very different from the last one.
Several new gameplay mechanics have been added to the game, including a “mega-evolution” which allows Pokémon to temporarily assume different forms in the middle of battle and receive bonuses.
Chen said the mega-evolution mechanic “might really change game dynamics.”
“The new game is going into a very interesting direction,” he said.
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/11/2013 under the headline "Pokémon game to be released at midnight (Meowth, that’s right)"
