‘Black’ and ‘White’ Shatter U.S. Pokemon Sales Records

And again, Pokemon is dead? These opening day sales figures just prove that Pokemon has survived the test of time and will never go away. Let’s see now if these games sell more copies in the U.S. than any Pokemon games of the past… we’ll find out in a few months.

Pokemon is already the second most successful gaming franchise on the planet behind Mario, but Mario has been out for much, much longer and so has more games to attribute to its sales figures. Considering Pokemon just sells more and more with each generation now (and probably has sold more at this point in its run than Mario did at the same point), you can technically call Pokemon the most successful gaming franchise in history if you want. I’m sure at some point it’ll eclipse Mario anyways, so now it’s just a waiting game to number one!

NEW POKÉMON VIDEO GAMES SHATTER U.S. SALES RECORDS

Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version Combine to Sell More Than 1 Million in a Single Day

REDMOND, Wash., March 8, 2011 – Two new Pokémon video games went on sale on March 6 and promptly shattered all previous U.S. Pokémon sales records. The Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version games for the Nintendo DS family of systems became the fastest-selling Pokémon video games of all time, selling more than 1.08 million units after just one day of availability. That surpasses the previous one-day sales record of more than 780,000 set by the Pokémon Diamond Version and Pokémon Pearl Version games in April 2007.

“Longtime Pokémon fans are attracted to the new Pokémon, new battle systems and a new region to explore, while newcomers enjoy the ability to jump in and have fun right away,” said Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America’s senior director of Corporate Communications. “These sales numbers illustrate the continued strength of the Nintendo DS family of systems. Already established as the nation’s best-selling video game platform of all time, the installed base of more than 47 million makes it the ideal hand-held for developers to reach a huge gaming-focused target audience.”

Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version feature more than 150 new Pokémon for players to catch, train and battle. The never-before-seen Unova region gives players a whole new world to explore. For the first time in the series, in-game environments change with the four seasons. The games also introduce Triple Battles and Rotation Battles, which give players even more choices when battling.