This year Nintendo announced it would be bringing a brand new Pokémon title to the 3DS in the form of Pokémon X & Y. This new iteration breaks the mould set by previous games and incorporates full 3D environments instead of the conventional top-down view we're all used to.
Of course, Pokémon Black & White Version 2 was released towards the end of 2012 and has sold 7.81 million copies since then, but it appears people are still buying the older Pokémon titles - perhaps spurred on by the announcement of the upcoming 3DS release.
Siliconera recently dug up some interesting worldwide sales figures for three Pokémon titles: Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver and Pokémon Black & White.
In the year ending 31st March 2013, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl managed to sell 20,000 more copies to hit 17.63 million, which is quite impressive for a game that was released six years ago.
Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, which was released in 2010, saw a massive surge with an extra 270,000 copies sold, taking the total to 12.67 million, while Pokémon Black & White recorded a further 710,000 copies - 15.42 million overall.
Adding all these sales together rounds nicely to one million for the year, which is a staggering amount for games that have been around for a while.
Clearly people are still enjoying the older generation of Pokémon games as they gear up for the big 3DS release this October.
What are your thoughts on this? Are you one of the million people who picked up an older Pokémon game? Let us know in the comment section below.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 71
Yay for Pokemon!
well, thats no surprise. most pokemon games are the same formula, just different graphics/pokemon
@Retro_on_theGo ya im happy too! can't wait fir x and y!
Of course! Game Freak made the right moves in ensuring that progress made in previous games could be transferred to recent copies, and indeed some thing can only be done in previous games. My local Gamestop is still trying to sell a used copy of FireRed for $35.
People just want to collect them all!
Shocking that these games still aren't available on the Virtual Console.
@Burning_Spear
Good point I would give them a try if one of the titles was on VC.
I think there are people who didn't own a DS who have gotten a 3DS and are going through backlog titles such as pokemon.
they should make 3d classics pokemon red and blue,and they should be able to trade between them and should be able to trade to pokemon x/y.
Pokemon emerald
I just restarted my Pokemon Emerald yesterday and I'm enjoying it allot.
Traded in my old Diamond and two other DS games so I could get Black for ten euros. Later replaced Diamond with Platinum to get my Sinnoh kick. Also picked up Black 2 earlier this year. I really love playing all these old games. Each has its own unique world and different characters, making each game a unique-yet-familiar experience.
If I recall from my previous ventures out on Streetpass there's a high percentage of players who still play Pokemon games that were released years ago. Just last month I managed to finish the final chapter of Pokemon Conquest.
Im surprised HeartGold and SoulSilver hardly sold any copies compared to the others.
Pretty sure the 1.67 mil is a typo. Should be 11.67
This is why Pokemon gets good sells.
New Game Annouced+Older Games to buy=Better Sales.
I intend to buy Diamond tomorrow.
@Burning_Spear Maybe because as proven here they're still selling...
I didn't know they still sold D&P let alone Platinum. You know, there are still a few events Nintendo never released for any of there 4th gen games yet. I'm still waiting for the Locked Capsule Nintendo.
I know I'm gonna buy Black or White 1 and 2 anytime since it's the only generation I haven't played. Some of us are probably just playing catch up.
I haven't bought one since Silver (GBC). I've been tempted but in the end never fell for it.
Red and Blue on the Virtual Console, maybe? It would seem like a great way to hype up X & Y and get older fans interested again.
That heartgold/soulsilver total is way too low to be right, can someone double check it?
That's hardly surprising. I repurchased Sapphire recently and I'm trying to get my hands on Crystal (best there is for Pokémon ). I bought Pearl and White when they released though - and I'd never rebuy them. Heart Gold and Soul Silver are significantly easier than the originals from what I hear so I'm going to keep pursuing Crystal. As for the newer Pokémon games, I have no intention of buying Black/White 2 or Y/X.
On my Streetpass Mii Plaza log, everyone at my school plays Pokémon. Diamond, Pearl, SoulSilver, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, and Pokédex 3D Pro are the most popular, it seems.
So yeah, this doesn't surprise me at all.
This explains why they aren't on virtual console.
@Haxonberik I think it's supposed to be 12.67 million instead of 1.67.
I don't mean to be a downer here, but they probably aren't on virtual console because the original pokemon games used different mechanics and would therefore not be transferable to newer games. Abilities, Natures, Genders, Held items, and new moves were introduced, the Special stat was split into two separate stats, cloning and glitches were really easy to exploit in the original, two new types were introduced, and shinies (which aren't immensely important but still) were added since Red and Blue. Sure, it would be neat to have on Virtual Console, but Gamefreak probably sees it as a waste of time to even address these issues enough to even port it when recent version are still selling of the shelves, let alone create a transfer system.
I want to see the Gameboy versions of Pokemon blue and red on the 3DS eShop and I would buy day one if they release them. They are what I played to death and have the fondest memories of and, in my honest opinion, had the best Pokemon roster
Well, the ''older'' versions aren't exactly old to begin with, you know.
HeartGold and SoulSilver has sold 12.67 million in total! That all important 2 was missing!
@C7_
I doubt that has anything to do with it. A big part of the series is connecting and sharing with others, and they prpbably know most people will be expecting (or demanding) multiplayer to work with them.
Not surprised by this at all. Not just because there would be a lot of people new to the series wanting to play the previous games but also because they're still lots of fun. I still replay them myself infact I recently restarted Emerald and Gale of Darkness again.
Even out-of-print games like Pokemon Crystal still sell very well on the second-hand market. IMHO there's always new demand for these oldies from a new generation of trainers
I'm not surprised in the least. People are still buying the original pokemon games from the Game Boy as well. Pokemania fever will never die!
Doesn't surprise me at all.. Pokemon isn't dying anytime soon
At first, I was going to buy Pokémon Black in order to get ready for Pokémon X, but I decided against it because I want to be blown away by the new features in X (I haven't played Pokémon since Gameboy advance SP, so there are going to be a lot of surprises for me). All the games just became too similar for my likings, so I'm glad to see that the series is getting a well needed upgrade.
I don't see how moving 20,000 copies of anything in a full year qualifies as massive surges or whatnot.
Pleased. But not surprised. I, myself, bought Pokemon Emerald after playing Pearl. The 4th gen convinced me I really need not miss a generation...
I highly recommend Super Pokemon Rumble to 3DS fans BTW.
So this explains why these games never lower price, even after newer Pokémon games get released.
I got Black 1 and after that I got HeartGold. Which I think was a mistake, as it is faster to evolve Pokémon in Gen V. This has to do with two things: the fact that weaker Pokémon receive more exp points when they battle alongside tougher ones, and of course Audino. So I have not beaten HG but I beat Black 1 and I am slowly working through White 2. Most likely I will be picking up one of the new ones.
im not suprised at all. its pokemon!
I'm currently trying to collect at least one of each base Pokémon game (plus maybe one or more third versions), and so far I've rounded up FireRed, HeartGold, Sapphire and White. Still on my list are Blue, Crystal, Emerald, Diamond (I'd settle for Pearl if I had no choice), Platinum and White 2. Of course, I'm looking forward to the new versions as well, and I'll probably get Y since my friends are both apparently getting X.
@demonta4 what's the point when there is lg and fr
@Fusion14 You cant play those on 3ds.
Not too surprising. Perhaps simply because they don't do a whole lot of changing, Pokémon games do have a timeless quality to them. FireRed is still for me the game that I can pick up and blast through for a few hours despite being nearly 10 years old. HG has that quality too, they're instantly accessible and not too grind-heavy.
Meanwhile Emerald, Platinum and all of Gen V are the ones to pick up if you want something with a bit more challenge. I neglect Ruby & Sapphire here because they're almost too hard - a dearth of trainers between gyms make for some punishing challenges and a lot of grinding - whilst Emerald remains challenging but better balanced. And Diamond and Pearl suffered from a snail-paced battle engine and surfing movement, mercifully rectified in Platinum.
@NinGamer ...That's so out of place. If it was just 'the same game with different pokémon' people would be buying Black 2/White 2 only ._.
Hooray for Black&White, it deserves to sell more copies than Diamond and Pearl!
Awesome! It really shouldn't be a surprise though. I just can't wait to hear how much 3DS & 3DS XL sales will rise from Pokemon X & Y. That's going to be really awesome!
D/P have been around for six years? Daaang.
And Nintendo wants to act like they're to poor to work on stuff like the Virtual Console, features from the old Wii that sould be on the Wii U like the Photo Channel or Wii Speak channel AND most importantly they act like they're to poor to work on their franchises that have been in hibernation lately like Star Fox and F-Zero!! Pew come on.....
wow...too many of them.... like History games...pokemon... I have pokemon yellow, Pokemon D, Pokemon white 1 and Pokemon black 2.
everyone's love Pokemon games..... and shouldn't help it..... Love it!!!!!
@demonta4 two words: Virtual Console.
the dream radar must of helped sell the older gamers agen.
Diamond and Pearl on Wii U VC would be massively awesome.
If Nintendo would just release FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald on the 3DS eShop (assuming they will eventually realize GBA VC games are more suited for the 3DS than the Wii U and start selling the games on the 3DS eShop! ò_ó), then every main PokéMon game could be played on the 3DS!
@Melkaticox
whoa whoa, "out of place?" is it wrong to express my opinion?
anyways, i was never bashing pokemon- FYI i have diamond, pearl, platinum, soulsilver, and black. I LOVE all of them. I was simply saying that the formula is so constant, there's nothing not to love about it. All of them are worth a runthrough
B&W is the worst gen.
I hope XY come quickly.
While the older games are plenty of fun, I am very much looking forward to the next evolution of the Pokemon series.
I bought White 2 in January. Never played one before. The announcement of X & Y made me do it. I like the gameplay and music.
@Burning_Spear Nintendo is a company and so is Pokemon. Therefore nintendo doesnt own Pokemon, thats why we see pokemon on the ios. But it would be nice to see pokemon on the VC.
Some ppl keep saying "VC!!!" Pokemon is not owned by Nintendo. Plus, pokemon's sales says it all. They dont need the VC to sell older games when ppl are still buying the physical copies of the older games. Nintendo would have to offer pomemon a massive amount of $ to bring the pokemon games to VC.
I bought Black/White 1&2, and they are the 1st Pokemon games I have ever owned. Thought maybe my son and I would really enjoy them. We both started games, but neither of us seems to mesmorized by them. Have to try again when I have a new game drought.
@Ballordie01 I just researched this and Pokemon is owned by Nintendo. They could VC it even if it wasn't. Capcom does VC games so does Sega, possibly others.
@Zodiak13 Creatures Inc are a subsidiary of Nintendo so its only really nintendo and gamefreak. id love to see a % of what company's owns what. Its Satoshi Tajiri's brainchild and he is the founder of gamefreak but if nintendo and gamefreak where to have a disagreement who would the righst default to. Id imagine nintendo signed some kind of microsoft/bungie deal with gamefreak so in the break down in partnership nintendo would retain the rights to one of their biggest franchises.
@Zodiak13 but yes, we could see some pokemon games on the VC. I nean, i will hope so.
@Ballordie01
Satoshi Tajiri did indeed create the series but I think Nintendo bought the rights to the series, so just like Capcom kept the rights to Megaman when Keiji Inafune left the same will likely happen with Pokemon.
It all depends on the agreements made between the two but I doubt anything will come between them since both sides pretty much have it made at this point, Pokemon is one of Nintendo's biggest franchises and from what I've heard Game Freak pretty much gets to do their own thing.
This is thanks the poketransfer options in previous games. I think the GBA versions also got better sales this month.
Pokemon culture will never slow down
@Fusion14 two more words: no gba
I understand that people buy older Pokémon games, they have a timeless feel to them. I myself would like to try some of the GBA games, as I started playing Pokémon when it came to DS. I wish Nintendo would release some GBA Pokémon games in the 3DS eShop, Ruby and Sapphire would have been cool (^_^) Still, I see why this might not happen. Like: quite a lot of in-game rules changed with generation 4. Maybe a remake of a GBA game is more likely.
As far as I know Nintendo and GAME FREAK owns Pokémon, I've been a fan for a long time and all authentic magazines, DVDs, games and mangas says about the same as my latest magazine: © 2013 Pokémon. © 1995-2013 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc. TM and ® and character names are trademarks of Nintendo. The games also have this sentence: The Pokémon Company ~Nintendo~
I wouldn't be interested on them in VC. Pre-GenIV gameplay mechanics are very outdated (like all fire-type moves were special and so on, differences of type-effectiveness to ghost, the calculation of various Pokémon characteristics [IVs, ...]). DP may still be selling because it has a pretty good level of today's standards. We also have the remakes for a reason, they bring the new mechanics and Pokémon to the previous games.
I don't know from where these people are buying though, as I bought Platinum recently and had to import to my country because it doesn't seem to be in manufacturing anymore.
YES, please and you made me a fan of Pokemon, particularly this game, love it more, more, more...
Oh yeah! Can't wait for the disc to arrive in Indonesia so I can buy it! >.<
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