Pokèmon Sun and Moon crush Japan’s sales charts, boost the Nintendo 3DS

Pokèmon Sun and Moon have tapped into audience’s interest in a way that the last two games seemed to miss. Everyone loves these games, and they are doing very well around the globe, even in their home country of Japan.

At a time when Yo-kai Watch completely owns the imagination of the country’s youths, Pokèmon Sun and Moon showed up big to remind everyone who is the true king of this portable monster collecting genre. The games combined for nearly 2 million sold copies nationwide in their first week of availability. They easily topped the best-selling games list for the week, and more importantly, they boosted the sales of the New Nintendo 3DS to the number 1 spot, stealing the PlayStation 4 Pro’s thunder.

See the lists of best-selling software and hardware below for Japan.

1. Pokémon Sun and Moon – 3DS – 1,590,629 / New
2. Pokémon Sun and Moon (Double Pack) – 3DS – 151,379 / New
3. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – PS4 – 11,120 / 142,954
4. Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star – PS Vita – 9,276 / 82,295
5. Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star – PS4 – 6,450 / 76,079
6. Battlefield 1 – PS4 – 8,494 / 203,863
7. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition – PS4 – 7,587 / 34,917
8. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 – PS4 – 6,703 / 87,105
9. Mario party: Star Rush – 3DS – 6,021 / 63,897
10. Beyblade Burst – 3DS – 5,611 / 22,127
11. Minecraft: Wii U Edition – Wii U – 4,932 / 176,825
12. Monster Hunter Stories – 3DS – 4,778 / 271,566
13. Minecraft: PS Vita Edition – PS Vita – 4,727 /920,327
14. Titanfall 2 – PS4 – 4,583 /46,709
15. Pripara Mezameyo – 3DS – 4,086 / 32,951
16. Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization – PS Vita – 3,991 / 95,670
17. World of Final Fantasy – PS Vita – 3,513 / 72,437
18. Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization – PS4 – 3,363 / 96,395
19. Hakuouki: Yuugi Roku – Taishitachi no Daienkai – PS Vita – 3,288 / New
20. Kirby: Planet Robobot – 3DS – 3,100 / 469,860

And for hardware:

1. New 3DS XL – 81,044
2. PS4 – 25,605
3. 2DS – 17,769
4. PS4 Pro – 12,421
5. PS Vita – 9,191
6. New 3DS – 8,193
7. Wii U – 3,251
8. PS3 – 625
9. 3DS – 529
10. Xbox One – 186
11. 3DS XL 96

The PlayStation 4 does better than the PS4 Pro

Another interesting result is how the PlayStation 4 performed better than the PlayStation 4 Pro during its second week of availability. Japan has been combating the idea that it no longer is interested in cutting-edge gaming technology and that it prefers cheaper experiences regardless of the power behind them. The standard PlayStation 4 recovering in the face of superior hardware doesn’t do a lot to change that impression.

As for Pokèmon Sun and Moon, I still haven’t gotten around to them. I need to clear out Wild ARMs before I jump aboard, but I am psyched to do so. The last two games failed to leave a strong impression on me, and FireRed and LeafGreen are still my Pokèmon games of choice. Maybe this latest generation will finally supplant them.