GTS trade between US and Japanese versions confirmed possible: Friend codes also conf

[BulbaBot]

According to the official Japanese Pokémon web site, trade via the Global Trade Station between US and Japanese versions of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl will be possible. Players will be able to determine the location of the original trainer of each Pokémon, and traded Pokémon will retain their nickname in full. Additionally, globe in the GTS will be upgraded so that the world map is accessible. The site also claims that foreign Pokémon will gain experience at an even faster rate than normal traded Pokémon.

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[Doctor Oak]

The site also claims that foreign Pokémon will gain experience at an even faster rate than normal traded Pokémon.

And everyone who went to the effort of importing punched the air in a "Hah!" gesture.

 

[Zeta]

And yet it doesn't say how the foreign status of the Pokemon will be identified - if it will come from which region the game was produced in, or which region you're trading from online. I'd guess the latter, in which case you have little to celebrate. : p

 

[Zhen Lin]

I guess the former, since we know that there is something within the Pokémon data that identifies which language version it originally comes from. And this bit of information is preserved between GBA-GBA trades and in Pal Park, so...

 

[Zeta]

But then people who speak the same language but live in different countries wouldn't get any bonus. So you'd get diddly for trading from US to Austrailia, England, and Canada. Seems like a pretty shoddy way of doing it.

 

[Doctor Oak]

All the different language versions are coded differently anyway. The UK doesn't get the American release - they get the European release. Very little is changed (almost nothing) but enough IS changed to identify it as different to the American version. This is why there have been slight incompatability issues between US and EU English games (specifically Cube-GBA connections) in the past.

I believe that the only reigion that would really get gyped is Australia. They wont have a seperate version, they'll either use the American English or European English. Either way, they wont be counted as a seperate region - as far as I'm aware at any rate.

I don't think Canada is counted as a different country anyway, though - it's part of North America, which means it's all run by NOA.

Anyway, I'd hope for both actual physical region on the cart AND real-time geographical location to count, but obviously real-time geographical location would only count for the GTS, and it wouldn't be too fair to restrict it to that. Especially since the nature of the DS itself lends it to the ability of actually physically meeting someone in a different country and trading with them.

 

[Zhen Lin]

I just investigated the toponyms available in the Japanese version. There are 18 countries which have names for subunits (prefectures in Japan, states in the US, large regions of the UK, etc.): Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China (PRC), Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Korea (South), Poland, Russia, Sweden, and USA. The rest of the world only have country names. I note that even East Timor/Timor Leste is in the list of country names.

Anyway, the location in the GTS is set by yourself, so you can pretend to be anywhere. I doubt they'll use IP geolocation.

 

[Doctor Oak]

By large regions of the UK, do you mean the 4 individual countries? Is the Republic of Ireland included? Or maybe even rather, is there a differentiation between Ireland and Northern Ireland?

 

[Melkor]

I'm interested on regions of Spain as well... did they do the 17 there are? or maybe the 54?

Will the GTS globe be updated with the concrete region you traded with or just entirely?

 

[Argy]

Are states the most specific it gets? Because the part of my state I live in is pretty different from the rest of the state.

 

[Zeta]

You want bonus experience points for living in Austin and trading with someone in the rest of Texas or something just because there's a cultural difference instead of a geographic one?

Somehow I don't think you can expect that to happen. -_-;;

 

[paperfairy]

Zeta wins the thread.

 

[Argy]

No, I wasn't wanting any kind of advantage from it. I was just wondering if the break up went any further. If someone lives in New York City he or she should be able to specify that he/she doesn't live in upstate NY. The same goes for a southern/northern California difference. Washington State has both a large cultural AND geographical difference between east and west. The geographic difference is what I was talking about in reference to my state.

I shouldn't be snapped at just for asking if we can specify what metropolitan area we're in...

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Darn, I wish I was back in Pittsburgh...... X_X


I never realized how the GTS would work until now. But anyway, it's pretty incredible if it can show something as specific as states and your geological location (if it shows your state, does that mean it shows your city as well?).

Anyway though, it's obviously going to show the Appalachan Mountains for me. XD

 

[Zhen Lin]

By large regions of the UK, do you mean the 4 individual countries? Is the Republic of Ireland included? Or maybe even rather, is there a differentiation between Ireland and Northern Ireland?

It's broken up into East England, East Midlands, Greater London, Northeast England, Northwest England, North Ireland, Scotland, Southeast England, Southwest England, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire-Humberside.

I shouldn't be snapped at just for asking if we can specify what metropolitan area we're in...

Just the 50 US states and DC. And the US Virgin Islands, but that's considered a separate country.

I'm interested on regions of Spain as well... did they do the 17 there are? or maybe the 54?

There is Andalusia, Aragon, Asturia, Balearic Islands, Basque, Canary Islands,
Cantabria, Castile-La Mancha, Castile and León, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre, La Rioja, and Valencia.

 

[Argy]

Hmm, are Puerto Rico and Guam listed as separate countries?

 

[Zeta]

Didn't mean to snap, I just had a vision of thousands of n00bs all complaining that trading with someone two cities away didn't give them "foreign" EXP when they're "sooo different" from eachother.

 

[Zhen Lin]

Yes, Guam and Puerto Rico are in the country list.

 

[eX.A.K.R.]

I wonder what they did with disputed states and the like such as Palestine and Serbia and Montenegro - list them as countries, or exclude them?

 

[Zhen Lin]

Palestine is not listed. Serbia and Montenegro are listed as a single unit.