Just some of the eager Pokémaniacs on launch day

The 3DS may soon overtake its older brother, the DS, as Nintendo's première handheld system, but that's not going to stop its catalogue of games from selling like hot cakes in this stage of the handheld's lifespan.

Pokémon Black and White launched this past Sunday in the United States, smashing the previous record for launch day sales for a Pokémon title in the U.S. The Black and White versions of the latest adventure have sold 1.08 million copies on their first day of release. This surpasses the previous record held by Pokémon Diamond and Pearl when they launched back in 2007, with 780,000 sales on day one.

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Nintendo of America’s senior director of Corporate Communications, Charlie Scibetta, offers a few reasons why he thinks the games have sold as well as they have:

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... 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 handheld for developers to reach a huge gaming-focused target audience.

Incidentally, the United Kingdom enjoyed similar success for its launch of Pokémon Black and White, as they take the top and second spot of the U.K. charts on the first weekend of availability, making this release the biggest Pokémon launch ever across one weekend. The White version proved more popular as it sold 13,000 more copies than the Black, the combined sales making them one of Nintendo's biggest launches, along with Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii. Pokémon White also became the second fastest-selling DS game in the U.K., with Professor Layton and Pandora's Box holding first place.

If you're unsure whether to make the purchase or not, our Pokémon Black and White review is always there to help you with your decision.

[source chart-track.co.uk]