Pokemon Walking Comes to North America with HeartGold and SoulSilver's Pokewalker

BOOM widget 90910 As in Japan, the two latest Pokemon entries on Nintendo DS--HeartGold and SoulSilver--will come bundled with a pedometer accessory when they hit North America on March 14.

The Pokewalker, as it's called, provides players with another way to catch 'em all. By walking with (or shaking) the accessory, players earn Watts--used to catch Pokemon, search for items, and unlock "virtual routes"--plus experience points for the pocket monster they've transferred to the device. nope

However, it seems that the bundled accessory won't affect the game's price, as retail listings show the enhanced remakes of Pokemon Gold and Silver carrying the same $34.99 price point as Nintendo's other recent portable releases.

Providing more details on how the Pokewalker and RPGs interact, Nintendo explains:

Catch Wild Pokemon!
After you've collected some Watts by going on a Stroll with your Pokemon, spend some of them to use the Poke Radar to catch wild Pokemon! If you see tall grass rustling after you use the Poke Radar, you know you've found a Pokemon. You have three options in the battle. You can attack, evade, or catch the wild Pokemon. By attacking, you can wear down the wild Pokemon to make it easier to catch. If you choose to evade when the wild Pokemon attacks, you'll perform a counterattack! And when you think the timing is right, throw a Poke Ball to catch the Wild Pokemon. You can keep up to three caught Pokemon in your Pokewalker at a time. If you catch a fourth Pokemon, you must choose one of them to set free.

Find Items!
Use the Pokewalker's Dowsing Machine to help find items. Like the Poke Radar, you use the Watts you earned while walking to use the Dowsing Machine. Some of the items you can find are quite uncommon! When you use the Dowsing Machine, you'll see six patches of tall grass, and one of them has a hidden item in it. You have only two chances to discover the item! Some of the items you can get are really hard to find and very valuable, so keep hunting!

Time to Transfer!
Once you've found Pokemon and items using your Pokewalker, you can send them back to your Pokemon game. You can only keep up to three Pokemon and three items in your Pokewalker at a time, so be sure to send them to your game when your inventory fills up! Remember, if you catch a fourth Pokemon in your Pokewalker, you'll have to swap out one of the three Pokemon you've already caught.

The Pokewalker Journal
After your Pokemon has spent some time in your Pokewalker, you can get a recap in the Pokewalker Journal. The journal tells of all the places the Pokemon has been and the things it has found while traveling inside your Pokewalker! For example, if you catch a particular Pokemon while out on a Stroll, your Pokewalker Journal will make note of it. It will also keep track of how your Pokemon has behaved while inside your Pokewalker!

Pokewalkers Communicate with Each Other!
The Pokewalkers don't communicate only with Game Cards--they can also communicate with each other! When you connect Pokewalkers with a friend, you'll both receive an item as a gift! You can connect two Pokewalkers via infrared signal by pointing them at each other. When you do so, both players will receive an item! You can receive up to ten items by connecting to your friends, but you can get only one gift per person, per day.