Yesterday, Famitsu released its latest game charts - revealing Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for Nintendo Switch got off to an amazing start in Japan, shifting 1,395,642 copies in just the first three days.
This figure was based on in-store purchases alone and means these titles are now officially the second largest Switch game launch in Japan. They've even managed to outdo Pokémon Sword and Shield on release, which sold 1,364,544 million units on release in Japan.
If it's got you wondering how this launch compares to other Pokémon opening weekends in Japan, Serebii.net webmaster has now shared some more physical sales data - highlighting launch sales of past Pokémon games on 3DS and Switch. While the latest releases managed to outperform Let's Go, the older 3DS titles are still out in front.
The opening sales for the Diamond and Pearl remakes in Japan place them behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons (which sold around 1,880,626 physical copies in its first three days). Over in the UK, the remakes have also dominated the charts - becoming the second biggest domestic box launch of the year.
Have you contributed to the sales success of the latest Pokémon games on Switch? Leave a comment below.
Comments 48
Inb4 somebody will keep spouting hatred toward Pokemon BDSP.
Whatever...
Anyway, good job for Pokemon BDSP sales. 👍
@HedgehogEngine
> Software sales don't scale linearly with install base.
> Pokemon remakes always tend to sell less than their new gen counterparts - you can see that with Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire having a smaller launch than X/Y.
The fact that Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl managed to outperform Sword/Shield at retail is incredible. With digital sales, it had the biggest launch of any Pokemon remakes and is one of the biggest video game launches of all time in Japan. These results are nothing short of phenomenal.
@westman98 Maybe it helped that people weren't lied to about the dex.
I do prefer the older games to the newer ones and I do prefer a more linear experience. Exp share is fine with me and having access to the boxes at all times something I can take or leave. The effect of the moves being shown is also a take it or leave it thing.
I think a decent amount of people also may have skipped this game in favor of Arceus next year.
@NinjaWaddleDee I can’t buy this $60 game because another $60 game comes out months from now. /s
Don’t understand the logic.
So safe bet this game has 2 million at least too
@HedgehogEngine Uh we know the digital distribution of what Sword/Shield got. It’s not mental gymnastics to assume it got a similar ballpark range especially since the install base has only grown since then
I have staked my entire identity on the sales performance of these video games so actually the figures suggest whatever aligns with my weird fixated beliefs.
@Maxz lol 😁
@Anti-Matter There's a difference between blind hatred and the truth. If someone were to criticize a particular game because of some arbitrary reason (like the genre for example), then that person is hating a game for no good reason. If someone says they have an issue with how a game's mechanics or systems were executed, then that's a legitimate criticism.
The only bad criticisms I've seen of this game are people complaining about the art style. Everything else regarding Exp. Share, the lack of Platinum content, the mandatory day 1 update, etc. is all justified because those are examples of the developers being lazy. No matter how much you or anyone else says they like this game and no matter how many units this game sells, any objective observer can easily come to the conclusion that it's a mediocre release at best. Even NintendoLife gave it a 6/10.
@Crono1973 Thats... not it. It's because there are two pokemon games coming out so close to each other. 2 months is not a long time for casual gamers. And yes, I know Arceus is going to be "different". But it still is another pokemon themed jrpg.
@HedgehogEngine any game that sells 1,5 million boxed copies in 3 days in just one region does incredibly well.
@HedgehogEngine
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl won't have lower digital sales than Sword/Shield, which sold 2 million retail+digital copies at launch.
@NinjaWaddleDee Right, a Pokemon fan can wait months or play Pokemon now AND in a few months. We are talking about Pokemon fans here because non-fans wouldn't be waiting for the next Pokemon game anyway.
@HedgehogEngine have a nice day / night yourself too.
Just because a delta between two games is small doesn’t mean that the sales were ‘not good all things considered. Not all things were considered in that statement.
Maybe both did incredibly well. Maybe most pokemon players already had a switch. Maybe digital sales were a larger factor. Maybe these are remakes and not a new mainline installment. Maybe the development costs were a lot less this time around. Maybe they cut marketing costs. When is a game successful? Profit, review scores, satisfied customers or game sales?
Anyway, bottom line: these early game sales are massive. Even for Pokemon standards.
I deleted my first comment btw. I understand you could read it as a bit naggy.
@HedgehogEngine
You can wait for Nintendo's FY2021 Q3 financial report in early February of 2022 (or a PR statement by The Pokemon Company if we're lucky), but I can assure you in advanced that digital sales aren't going to be down compared to 2019. This isn't speculation - a simple cursory glance at trends in Nintendo's software sales will tell you that.
@HedgehogEngine BDSP seem more like games that people would get later in their lifespan.
@HedgehogEngine
What final numbers would make BDSP successful in the context of remakes? Or disappointments? Numbers please.
I ask because remakes always sell less than a system’s preceding main title. Typically by 5-6M.
Specific example: DP sold 18M with around 40M DS users at launch. HGSS did 13M with over 100M users at launch. Both are in the top 10 games on the most successful handheld.
Three articles on the sales of these Pokemon games in the last two days, sure going for the clicks with this story, and no doubt this comment section will provide the usual levels of entertainment.
@NinjaWaddleDee yeah I’m more hyped for that than a game I’ve played before.
@Mauzuri I loved HG/SS and ORAS 😭 tbf I’d never played the og’s since gameboy was a bit before my time.
Congrats! I know I bought both BDSP at launch, and have been having a lot fun with them. Brought a lot of memories back of old school Pokémon. Honestly I was expecting there to be a big Reddit protest like there was for sword and shield and those games breaking sales records, but there wasn’t to my disappointment.
@Crono1973 What an incredibly egoistic comment. You are aware not every one has a job or the money to buy every game that releases? For example pupils or (university) students who got the Switch as a gift or saved money to be able to buy a Switch
@johnvboy I hope for more articles just so i can see more salt from grown adults crying over a PM game doing well haha
@johnvboy I don't know how to embed images on here on a phone but it I did there would be a picture of like Palpatine or something with the caption yes yes excellent we feed on your hatred for one another.
@WallyWest,
Pretty sure they will not let you down on every single related comment section.
@bluemage1989.
Yes I know the one you are talking about.
@OldPierre77,
People often overlook all the money that goes into a game to make it a success.
@Crono1973
You don’t understand the logic of money?
@NinjaGuy69 Exp share complaint definitely isn’t remotely justified either lol. That seems like a hardcore niche Pokémon community problem that thinks there is an illusion of challenge without it when it’s a QoL convenient feature for most JRPGs.
Also that 6/10 here is a lower end Outlier score for this game. Most other critics didn’t give this a 6/10 or equivalent. NL isn’t a reliable source for reviews if that is the only place you looked too.
They gave Let’s Go a 8/10 and anyone would laugh you out of the room if you try to objectively say that game is two points better then this game.
@HedgehogEngine no it is mental gymnastics on your part that you are assuming that a popular Pokémon mainline title is selling remotely bad on digital. You still gave zero reason why you think so.
@Maxz I wish I could give this multiple likes.
@Mauzuri I guess I could see that perspective. Pokémon X imo had the best postgame of any Pokémon game. (The looker quest was so fun)
@Arawn93 How is Exp. Share a hardcore niche thing? The Pokemon games have never been designed to be hardcore games but at least there's always been an element of strategizing that kept the older games fun and engaging. Just think of how pointless and unmemorable the fights against Sabrina's Alakazam, Whitney's Miltank, Lance's Dragonites or Cynthia's Garchomp would have been with an overleveled team. In these newer games, you can just streamroll everyone, because you know, you're overleveled. Furthermore, it's extremely frustrating to train individual Pokemon for post-game content because you can't turn the damn thing off. You have to deposit everyone else so that they don't level up and that's idiotic. As I've said before, the only people who genuinely feel the games are still fun and engaging with the mandatory experience share are children or people with the low standard of children.
Lastly, for the point about the NintendoLife score, I was stating that even enthusiasts like the writers at NintendoLife are disappointed with the quality and lack of effort of these games. Game journalist reviews are largely meaningless because of the bias, but sometimes, they get it right.
@mariomaster96 We aren't talking about buying every game that releases (just 2 that are months apart) but your hyperbole demonstrates the weakness of your argument.
@Crono1973 And you think for example a 12 year old kid is able to afford a new game every 2 months? Don't know what kind of parents you had but my parents didn't just buy me games whenever I wanted one, I had to save my birthday and christmas money to buy them myself.
But I think discussing with you is pointless
@mariomaster96 Is the average age of console gamers now 12 or was that just convenient for your example?
But digital sales arent accounted on switch and also on switch gamed are 60 dollars and 40 on 3ds, so 33% more on switch, this makes this release the biggest in pokemo history money wise in japan. Take that haters
@Mauzuri bruh I’m just sharing my opinion. Lmao nintendo fans really hate everything 😭
@NinjaGuy69 No there has not been an element of “strategy” since Gen 1 where you can solo everything especially with your plethora of full restores/max revives crutch. You have to go out of your way to lose at Pokémon.
There is a reason why mainline Pokémon games known are known as the gateway turnbased combat JRPG that even children can clear and disabling exp share doesn’t make the game remotely as challenging as you think it is.
@Arawn93 Sure, maybe if you spend hours grinding and knockout literally everything you encounter on your way to main battles like Gym Leaders or the Elite 4 but I can't see most people playing that way. The older games at least put in the effort to make the games engaging and forced you to actually think about how to beat enemies instead of just mashing the A button. And sure, the Pokemon games have never been Dark Souls or anything of that difficulty, but just because they've never been the most challenging, that doesn't mean there should be no challenge at all.
@Crono1973 Gaming is expensive.
@NinjaGuy69,
So basically there is bias in reviews, yet with these games it's only the positive ones that are incorrect, and the negative reviews are just from the journalists that are not scared to tell people how it is, sounds very reasonable.
@johnvboy You missed the point. I mentioned NintendoLife's score only because you'd assume that the journalist reviewing that game would have likely played many of the other games in the series and would have greater perspective than some random reviewer from IGN or GameSpot. The big picture though is that, yes, most critic reviews aren't helpful. In this particular example, however, I'd say that NintendoLife was pretty spot on with the score.
It is borderline useless to compare physical launches in 2013 to 2021 when more people are going digital.
@NinjaGuy69,
My point was we tend to trust negative reviews more than positive ones, and as a remake of the original games these fine.
@NIN10DOXD Most of us are adults and can afford to buy a new game every few months. Also, you don't have to buy a game at launch. If you can only afford a new game every 6 months, you can still buy this remake and the new Pokemon game. I just don't get the logic of 'they are saving themselves for marriage' where marriage = the next Pokemon game.
@Arawn93 I don't think that strategy is even remotely viable in any Pokemon game. You can't buy max revives, and full restores are available late game, and are expensive enough that only players that were already doing well and saved tons of money could afford a hefty supply of them. That's speaking nothing of the technical aspect that these items require a turn to use in battle, and do not help if you are knocked out in one hit.
I agree that Pokemon has never been particularly hard. I also agree that the EXP share should have been a quality of life improvement. Most other RPGs share EXP between the party in some way, which encourages party members to serve different roles other than just dealing as much damage as possible.
The problem though is that Pokemon has not been designed with that level of thoughtfulness with the EXP share. In every game it has been utilized so far, it has only allowed the player to become vastly overleveled.
To put it simply, by not changing the trainer levels in BDSP, but changing the way EXP is distributed the whole game, BDSP suffers a major issue with progression and balancing.
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