Pikachu fans everywhere heard the call this morning when Nintendo announced the next pair of titles in the popular and profitable Pokémon franchise.  Coming for a worldwide release in October 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS are Pokémon X and Pokémon Y which brings the series into full 3D action territory.  I'm not a Pokémon fan, so I hope the following statement from Polygon means more to you than it does to me.

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y will feature three starter Pokémon: Froakie, Fennekin and Chespin.

With a near-simultaneous release in key world markets, this is apparently the first time that Pokémon players will be able to compete globally with one another online in a timely fashion.  Getting players involved sooner rather than later works for everyone: fans can play sooner and Nintendo sells more copies of the games if it's riding that wave of "new thing" excitement.  Everybody wins (especially Nintendo, as Pokémon is the company's big earner at a time when it needs a major sales winner to combat perception that it's struggling with the Wii U and 3DS markets).  Here's the announcement trailer: