Pokemon X and Y Titles Explained in Iwata Asks

roseofbattle

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Pokemon X and Y Titles Explained in Iwata Asks

X and Y represent the people around the world who intersect in a cultural meeting point.

Pokemon X and Y are the first games in the series to deviate from the color themes of previous games. When the announcement of X and Y came in January, there was a chorus of "Huh?"s regarding the titles. In the most recent Iwata Asks, Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda and Pokemon Company President Tsunekazu Ishihara explained the reason behind the titles for X and Y as representation of people around the world intersecting at different points. Should we expect a Pokemon Z to represent all three dimensions?

"So the theme this time is that even if languages, cultures, and mindsets are different, even if the surrounding environment is different, they overlap somewhere," Iwata said.

"The world holds people with all sorts of ways of thinking, and you can get a sense that they exist in different dimensions," Masuda said. "But if you think of them as people who think on the x-axis and people who think on the y-axis... then they intersect somewhere... We may think differently, but we all live on the same planet, so everyone eats, sleeps, and goes about their business day after day just like everyone else." Masuda added that the pronunciation of letters changes in each language, and this was a good representation of different people around the world coming together.

"Because they're the first main Pokemon games for a new hardware platform... I wanted to do something completely different," Ishihara concluded, "so I thought the titles were perfect."

Source: Iwata Asks [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/pokemonxy/0/1]

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Aeshi

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So X and Y refer to the Dimensional Axis?

Huh, I assumed they referred to X and Y Chromosomes.
 

Headsprouter

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Kalos is based on France, which is part of Europe, which is one big mishmash of cultures, basically all of which overlap in some way, so yeah, it makes perfect sense when you introduce that theme.
 

SomeLameStuff

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Apr 26, 2009
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Huh. I just thought they ran out of colors and started on the alphabet.

But how about a more important question, IS ARCANINE EXCLUSIVE TO EITHER VERSION?! I MUST KNOW!
 

Scarim Coral

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danm I thought it was about Math but in saying so it does make sense from Iwata explaination (it kind of like that saying, getting to point x throught y or something like that).
 

bandit0802

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Very interesting philosophical direction. I wonder if it'll have any effect on the gameplay and/or story.
 

Yopaz

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Ponyholder said:
roseofbattle said:
Pokemon X and Y Titles Explained in Iwata Asks

X and Y represent the people around the world who intersect in a cultural meeting point.

Pokemon X and Y are the first games in the series to deviate from the color themes of previous games. When the announcement of X and Y came in January, there was a chorus of "Huh?"s regarding the titles. In the most recent Iwata Asks, Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda and Pokemon Company President Tsunekazu Ishihara explained the reason behind the titles for X and Y as representation of people around the world intersecting at different points. Should we expect a Pokemon Z to represent all three dimensions?

"So the theme this time is that even if languages, cultures, and mindsets are different, even if the surrounding environment is different, they overlap somewhere," Iwata said.

"The world holds people with all sorts of ways of thinking, and you can get a sense that they exist in different dimensions," Masuda said. "But if you think of them as people who think on the x-axis and people who think on the y-axis... then they intersect somewhere... We may think differently, but we all live on the same planet, so everyone eats, sleeps, and goes about their business day after day just like everyone else." Masuda added that the pronunciation of letters changes in each language, and this was a good representation of different people around the world coming together.

"Because they're the first main Pokemon games for a new hardware platform... I wanted to do something completely different," Ishihara concluded, "so I thought the titles were perfect."

Source: Iwata Asks [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/pokemonxy/0/1]

Permalink
They are not the first games in the series that diverted from naming by Colour. One could argue that the first ones were Gold, Silver, and Crystal named after rare and valuable minerals. Then there was Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald which could also be seen as being named after gems. Not to mention Diamond, Pearl, Platinum...
There's also Black and White.

People got short memories. The haunted sword Pokemon was also reported as Pokemon starting to be made from inanimate objects... considering how many of those there are already...
 

Yopaz

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Ponyholder said:
Yopaz said:
There's also Black and White.

People got short memories. The haunted sword Pokemon was also reported as Pokemon starting to be made from inanimate objects... considering how many of those there are already...
I know that there is Black and White. In the article, they say that this is the first time they are moving away from Colours, which I called bullshit on.
Black and white aren't colours. So technically there has been only 6 games named after colours and 2 of them were spin-offs.
 

Jamous

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Huh. I always kind of figured it was chromosomes; especially seeing as they've brought in sexual dimorphism. Oh well. Still good reasoning. Looking forward to playing it someday maybe if I actually get me a 3DS.
 

Hero of Lime

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It sounds like the themes of Black and White again, but with a more technical reason. (laughs) The idea that people think very differently from each other, yet they share many things in common was the main theme of Black and White.

Interesting reasoning and explanation, we'll see how different it is in a few days. (laughs)

[sub]I hope someone gets the (laughs) joke, or I'll look like a madman. >.>[/sub]
 

SD-Fiend

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Jamous said:
Huh. I always kind of figured it was chromosomes; especially seeing as they've brought in sexual dimorphism. Oh well. Still good reasoning. Looking forward to playing it someday maybe if I actually get me a 3DS.
They actually had sexual dimorphism since gold and silver. This is however the first game in which it isn't just a minor sprite change.
 

Zepherus14

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werewolfsfury said:
Jamous said:
Huh. I always kind of figured it was chromosomes; especially seeing as they've brought in sexual dimorphism. Oh well. Still good reasoning. Looking forward to playing it someday maybe if I actually get me a 3DS.
They actually had sexual dimorphism since gold and silver. This is however the first game in which it isn't just a minor sprite change.
Nidoking and NidoQueen would like to say hi. Also Volbeat and Illumise, Gallade and Gardevoir, Vespiqueen, and to a degree Jellicent, and Unfezant.

But ya, still an interesting mechanic, although I'm a little surprised that everyone was thinking chromosomes when before we knew about the 'mega' evos, people where talking about axis because this was the first Pokemon game for the 3ds.
 

Agayek

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Ponyholder said:
They are not the first games in the series that diverted from naming by Colour. One could argue that the first ones were Gold, Silver, and Crystal named after rare and valuable minerals. Then there was Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald which could also be seen as being named after gems. Not to mention Diamond, Pearl, Platinum...
You do realize that while each of those words can refer to physical objects, it's just as common, if not moreso, to use them as colors right?
 

SD-Fiend

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Zepherus14 said:
werewolfsfury said:
Jamous said:
Huh. I always kind of figured it was chromosomes; especially seeing as they've brought in sexual dimorphism. Oh well. Still good reasoning. Looking forward to playing it someday maybe if I actually get me a 3DS.
They actually had sexual dimorphism since gold and silver. This is however the first game in which it isn't just a minor sprite change.
Nidoking and NidoQueen would like to say hi. Also Volbeat and Illumise, Gallade and Gardevoir, Vespiqueen, and to a degree Jellicent, and Unfezant.

But ya, still an interesting mechanic, although I'm a little surprised that everyone was thinking chromosomes when before we knew about the 'mega' evos, people where talking about axis because this was the first Pokemon game for the 3ds.
I don't really count Nidoking/queen or Volbeat and Illumise since the are treated as separate species that just happen to have a relation with each other. I will give you Gallade and Vespiqueen since they both come from the same base pokemon but Meowstic is the first pokemon that is different both ascetically and move pool wise whilst still being the considered the same pokemon.
 

Lunar Templar

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SomeLameStuff said:
Huh. I just thought they ran out of colors and started on the alphabet.

But how about a more important question, IS ARCANINE EXCLUSIVE TO EITHER VERSION?! I MUST KNOW!
>.>



I don't think Arcanine is that big a deal anymore, cause I think they just broke the game.
 

frobalt

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Ponyholder said:
roseofbattle said:
Pokemon X and Y Titles Explained in Iwata Asks

X and Y represent the people around the world who intersect in a cultural meeting point.

Pokemon X and Y are the first games in the series to deviate from the color themes of previous games. When the announcement of X and Y came in January, there was a chorus of "Huh?"s regarding the titles. In the most recent Iwata Asks, Game Freak Director Junichi Masuda and Pokemon Company President Tsunekazu Ishihara explained the reason behind the titles for X and Y as representation of people around the world intersecting at different points. Should we expect a Pokemon Z to represent all three dimensions?

"So the theme this time is that even if languages, cultures, and mindsets are different, even if the surrounding environment is different, they overlap somewhere," Iwata said.

"The world holds people with all sorts of ways of thinking, and you can get a sense that they exist in different dimensions," Masuda said. "But if you think of them as people who think on the x-axis and people who think on the y-axis... then they intersect somewhere... We may think differently, but we all live on the same planet, so everyone eats, sleeps, and goes about their business day after day just like everyone else." Masuda added that the pronunciation of letters changes in each language, and this was a good representation of different people around the world coming together.

"Because they're the first main Pokemon games for a new hardware platform... I wanted to do something completely different," Ishihara concluded, "so I thought the titles were perfect."

Source: Iwata Asks [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/pokemonxy/0/1]

Permalink
They are not the first games in the series that diverted from naming by Colour. One could argue that the first ones were Gold, Silver, and Crystal named after rare and valuable minerals. Then there was Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald which could also be seen as being named after gems. Not to mention Diamond, Pearl, Platinum...
Came here just to point that out.

It's a real shame when articles like this just flat out get their facts wrong.

I'd say the gold/silver/crystal thing only works due to crystal though.
 

Bleidd Whitefalcon

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Lunar Templar said:
SomeLameStuff said:
Huh. I just thought they ran out of colors and started on the alphabet.

But how about a more important question, IS ARCANINE EXCLUSIVE TO EITHER VERSION?! I MUST KNOW!
>.>



I don't think Arcanine is that big a deal anymore, cause I think they just broke the game.
...is that Mega Aggron?
 

Lunar Templar

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Bleidd Whitefalcon said:
Lunar Templar said:
SomeLameStuff said:
Huh. I just thought they ran out of colors and started on the alphabet.

But how about a more important question, IS ARCANINE EXCLUSIVE TO EITHER VERSION?! I MUST KNOW!
>.>



I don't think Arcanine is that big a deal anymore, cause I think they just broke the game.
...is that Mega Aggron?
yes, yes it is, and god only knows what kinda of insanity its gonna get from its Mega form.