New Pokemon gets exclusive DS Lite

The latest installments of Nintendo's Pokemon franchise, Diamond and Pearl, will arrive on Japanese shelves alongside their own limited edition of the DS Lite hardware, according to a report on Impress Watch. Releasing with the games on September 28, the Pokemon Center Original Nintendo DS Lite Dialga/Palkia Edition will be sold by the Nintendo subsidiary Pokemon Company.

As the name implies, it will be sold from Pokemon Center stores, which can be found in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo. While general game retailers will not be carrying the item, it will be sold through the Pokemon Daisuki Club from late October. Sales will be limited to one unit per customer.

The hardware appears to be similar to the Jet Black DS Lite, which was released in Japan on September 2. However, it will be coated with a metallic finish and feature a design from the game on the outer casing.

Although functionally identical to the normal hardware, such limited edition packages have proven popular in the past. Square Enix used a similar strategy for its recently released DS remake of Final Fantasy III to great effect. The Final Fantasy III Crystal Edition DS Lite bundle proved a hit in Japan, motivating fans to line up at stores overnight for a chance to buy one.