Japanese Charts: Pokémon Stays In First Place For The Sixth Week, As Switch Sales Increase

The top 30 is completely bonkers with a 27 out of 30 games being on Switch

Pokemon is absolutely killing, and it totally deserves it. My fav game of the year.

@Lugia1
My favourite comment of the year.

It's not like PS4 isn't still moving units in Japan in good numbers. It makes me wonder what the people who are buying new PS4s are buying in terms of games.

27 of the Top 30?! That’s insane. There’s something wrong with the software figures though, if Mario & Sonic sold 50k how can it only be 7th, and Minecraft, according to the article, has sold almost 42k yet places 10th? Either software figures are wrong or the positions are wrong.... I see it has now been fixed, that makes more sense.

I just confused.
Japan still have tons of New 2DS LL stock but NO New 3DS LL.
Instead, there were some numbers of New 3DS has been sold.
Where is New 3DS LL ?

Pokemon has now outsold Mario Kart.

I just want ocerina of time for switch... please..... PLEASE......

@Anti-Matter Dude the New 3DS numbers also includes the New 3DS LL numbers as well. They combined em so to not complicate the chart. The reason why you only see New 2DS LL up there is because Nintendo never made a regular size New 2DS like the New 3DS.

@TheLightSpirit
(sry for bad english)
Its fine if u enjoyed this games but let the people "whine" if they want because imo SWSD are saddly the worst pokemn games so far for many reasons
One reason is the 3ds graphcs and animations and to be honest i wouldn't care about that if GF wouldnt have lied and said that the cut half of the pokemon for better graphics and animations. also the galar region is very small and has absolutly no optional places to explore, if u just play the main story u have already seen everything the region has to offer (just compare that to the hoenn region where nearly the whole south of the region is optional). And also the games have no post game except for the post game story which is far worse than e.g. the delta episode

@mariomaster96,

Nobody said you can't complain but on the whole most people are happy with the game, hence why the sales are so good.

I find it funny how NL can’t be bothered to order the Xbox One console sales properly because they essentially sold nothing. Also the lifetime sales for PS4 pro are clearly wrong. Can someone tidy this up please NL.

@johnvboy no the sales are good because pokemon is written on it

@mariomaster96,

No it's not, the mass Pokemon fans who this game is aimed at have no issues with it at all, it;s only the core internet minorities that are upset, their line seemed to be there would be a mass outrage and fans would boycot the game, of course this was not the case so now they have to call the people who like and have bought the game stupid.

@mariomaster96
Here we know that complaining is something normal, in fact, we can all complain about something, it is a right and it is not prohibited.
The point is that this user Ben, in "EVERY" note about Pokemon, even though nothing to do with Sword and Shield is making his negative comments, which, from the beginning we already know that he does not like the way they developed those games and we know that he is not the only one, and it is good that he has exposed his opinions about it, but seriously, it is necessary now in each note, hey, he even becomes annoying and acts as a party pooper; in some notes people in the comments there are no negativity or some about those games, and he comes with his, "I hate those games," that is annoying...
That is why I repeat it, it is not bad to complain, but this is already exaggerated.

Oh, and as I mentioned that he is not the only one, this also goes to others who all the time is to complain, complain and complain, and when we all know their point.

@johnvboy i didnt call anyone stupid, where did u get that from?
@TheLightSpirit others like me? so people who have been pokemon fans since they where 3 years old (thats how old i where when the series started airing in germany and ive watched it with my older siblings) and have played (almost) every pokemon edition (i started with ruby when i was 7) ?

But yeah, thats what im gonna do, playing the old games. also there are some good romhacks out there

@Galenmereth Lol, I mean... that's only an assumption you can make on the interwebs. In the same vein, I can also assume that, since there aren't a whole lot of comments to prove otherwise (a whole lot meaning a number that matches the sales of the game), players liked the game. They chose not to write a review on it on the internet, move on, and wait for the next game in the series that they still would likely buy. I don't know how accurate this is, but it's an assumption I can make. Maybe even a safe assumption too, if I'm being honest.

You get the point.

At the end of the day though, if you look at the phenomenal sales numbers? It's definitely safe to say a WHOLE LOT of people didn't really care about Dexit or the other things that we were told to objectively hate and boycott the game for. Sure, it's Pokémon when it all comes down to things, but maybe a lot of Pokémon fans just wanna play and enjoy the games for themselves.

For what it's worth, the vast majority of the people I've talked to in actuality have praised the game, even when I bring up Dexit or something like that. So there's that. People are gonna enjoy the game, and some people aren't. That's fine, but let's not act like there's some sect of people who didn't enjoy the game AND are choosing to keep quiet about it and not even buy the next game.

@mariomaster96,

I never said you personally called anybody stupid, I just stated there are a core minority of Pokemon fans who seem to have an issue with people liking a game they do not, and they seem to think they are stupid for doing so, if you do not like the games then fine, but everybody is not buying this because it's Pokemon, with this I will not agree.

@Galenmereth,

Of course you can't, but you can't say the reverse either, the main Pokemon audience will be having fun with these games, it's only the people who have grown up with these games expect more.

There is an awful lot of assumption in your post, you could look it at that the millions of people who far outnumber the very vocal internet minorities, (of which on the metacritic user scores there are around 4500 review, that even out of this seem divided,), are all more than happy with the game.

@Galenmereth FYI in the EU we can play and return games for a full refund if you don’t like them. You have 28 days I think. I’ve even heard of a few people complaining to Nintendo about digital games and those customers getting their money back as a result.

@BenAV Plus what's sad is they will take this as a small group of people complaining and think everything they did was ok and we won't get enough change next game. They have always tried to do just enough and they never go the extra mile. They need to shake up the formula but why should they when they sell 10's of millions.

@Galenmereth Well, you didn't have to mention Dexit. Dexit was easily the biggest controversy regarding Pokémon Sword and Shield and, as such, pretty much the first line of any criticism of the game pre- and post-launch included Dexit. Other things like subpar visuals and lack of originality came along, but still. Dexit was synonymous to SwSh criticism.

Yes, sales numbers aren't indicative of enjoyment, but it's still saying that despite the controversy, a lot of people still chose to buy the game regardless. And I'm sure a lot of them didn't regret their purchase.

@Galenmereth,

By implication sales do not measure enjoyment, means there may be people not enjoying them, from the tone of your posts, and the fact you do not like these games yourself, I would be more inclined to believe you meant this rather than everybody likes them, or why state anything about the sales figures in the first place.

really nice sales figures all around!

@Galenmereth,

I do not have to deal with anything fella, your initial post was in reaction to me stating the games has sold well so the suggested mass hysteria must be only a small vocal minority, while the mass majority of Pokemon fans must like the game.

"People buy games to try them. The sales stats don’t take their enjoyment into account. Since you can’t return played games, there’s no way to gauge how many people actually like them."

I very much doubt you would mention enjoyment in your post at all unless you felt the masses felt like you, now like you say I can't presume or assume anything, but wait, I can can't I, as you have to deal with anything I say.

@BenAV,

Make a stand Ben and don't buy the next one, just move on to a different game, I know I would if my expectations were not being catered for anymore.

@Ryu_Niiyama,

I know, still can't believe how many loyal Pokemon fans hate this new game, but still feel compelled to buy it.

@Spoony_Tech,

Which is exactly what it is a small amount of people complaining.

@Galenmereth I mean, I'm not disputing that I said Dexit first, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. I didn't even mention Dexit alone, I also hinted at the other criticism towards the game in my initial post.
Anyway, it does seem like you have an opinion on this that's not going to change, so I guess I'll leave it at that. Good talk!

Those sales numbers LOOK really impressive, but those people are all just casual scrubs. All 10+ million of them. Just ask Falcom.

@johnvboy In general, people who care enough to complain about a thing will generally still buy it.

@johnvboy Haha, I just wonder what the response would be if Pokémon SwSh flopped.

"Haha, see! I told you so! Even though sales aren't correlated with people's enjoyment of the game, the sales show that it's an objective fact that people DIDN'T like this game! Hahaha!"

Something along those lines, I feel. Oh well, it's only an assumption. 😏😉

@Vee_Flames,

That's the issue on here, some members want to have their cake and eat it, as it were.

If these games had of failed sales wise then it would have been a huge justification that they were right no to like these games and everyone agrees with them, hence the poor sales, of course this was never going to happen so you get the old tried and tesed line, "people will buy anything becuse it's Pokemon" or worse that people are stupid for buying these games, as it's only them with their wide developer like knowledge of video games, that can tell people what's good or not..... give me a break.

Remember that Irish guy who'd tell us that consoles and software sales didn't increase in Japan during the month of December? Good times.

The Switch is dominating Japan. Wow

Ring Fit Adventure weekly Japanese sales:
1. 68,497
2. 64,045
3. 51,143
4. 52,240
5. 28,015
6. 26,141
7. 22,302
8. 16,125
9. 57,746
10. 56.861
Total: 443.118

Excellent numbers for Switch hardware and software. So glad that Luigis Mansion 3 is still going strong.

sigh I wish those Mario Party sales would've kicked them into gear as far as DLC goes. Real fun game that should've been a prime candidate for it and they even seem to hint at it in game...

@johnvboy #37 That's pretty much what I've done. I honestly forget that Gen 8 even exists tbh, since I also agree it's a big letdown... that and I'm having too much fun with Dragon Quest 11 atm. 👌🏾💯

It's a real shame, mainline Pokémon being the series that I've always gotten if nothing else, but I ain't giving them a cent until I feel it's worth it again. Looks like a remake is my only interest until we can get some dang spinoffs finally(which, unfortunately, doesn't look likely since they appear to have sold out to mobile).

Great to see another thread hijacked

My son opened his lite and Pokemon on Xmas day, and hasn't stopped playing unless threatened with grounding or worse. I haven't played it yet, but he seems to be enjoying it.

I just need to get through Luigi's, then Monster boy, with some dead cells thrown in (what a time sink) ... And then I can open the Witcher. I need more holidays.

Finally the PS4 Xmas sales kicked into gear ... Sales from last few weeks have been very low. Wonder if Sony gave up and threw in a new bundle or discount.

Hard to remember a bigger Xmas domination by a single player in Japan. Its a complete monopoly at the moment ... Or at least looks like it.

This is why Nintendo cares a lot about Japan ... And in native currency. Win win.

@Heavyarms55 It’s worth remembering that this is a physical chart. Nintendo has rules that mean that when the game has both a physical and digital release the digital is the same price or more expensive.

Sony allows publishers to set whatever physical and digital prices they feel are appropriate and therefore a higher proportion of their sales are digital.

@johnvboy
Saying that mixed reception and controversy don't impact sales is being disingenuous.

Games like COD Infinite Warfare, Battlefront 2, and Fallout 76 have all been mired with bad reviews and controversy, and sales suffered as a result.