UK Charts: Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Make Dominant Debut

Look I gotta be honest, To me, these games are miles better then sword and shield, The characters, the battles, the locations, all of it.

What? All the screaming on the internet was for nothing? What a shock, shock i tell you.

I enjoyed the remakes more than I expected tbh. Hopefully we get gold and silver remakes too.

As expected. Kind of depressing for me honestly. I don't think the games are trash or anything like that, but I think this is the end of the previous style of Pokemon remake, which is a huge shame.

Looks like we are not getting better pokemon games anytime soon. Fans seem to have settled for mediocrity.

Pokemon is Pokemon. Will sell well no matter how bad it is.

That's a real shame that Mario Party Superstars has dropped out of the Top10!!!! That is an absolutely BRILLIANT game.
Honestly guys..if you haven't already got MP Superstars...cannot tell you enough how great it is!!!! 10/10

@Bahamut_GR Yep. A Breath of the Wild-style reinvention won't be happening anytime soon for this series. It's like FIFA, if the fans are happy with minimum effort and pay millions for it, that's what they'll get.

In before the haters start claiming Pokemon fans will buy anything etc

Edit: Wasn't quick enough!!

@Toads-Friend I think it'll reappear next week. Battlefield 2042 is in a really bad state so I think Battlefield 2042, Just Dance 2022 and the Pokemon double pack will be swapped out for Animal Crossing New Horizons, Mario Party Superstars and either 3D World or GTAV.

Pokemon UK retail launch sales estimates:
> Platinum: ~60,000
> Heart Gold/Soul Silver: ~90,000
> Black/White: ~133,000
> Black/White 2: ~62,000
> X/Y: ~125,000
> Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire: ~145,000
> Sun/Moon: ~290,000 (Wednesday launch)
> Ultra Sun/Moon: ~78,000
> Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee: ~116,000
> Sword/Shield: ~191,000
> Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: ~145,000

Brilliant Diamond /Shining Pearl ties Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire as the 3rd biggest Pokemon launch at UK retail.

@Snatcher Well ofc, it's DP after all ^^

@MrHonest Again? After HGSS?

@Maximumbeans Didn't stop them from remaking Kanto twice (the second time featuring far less content than the first time)

Biggest UK Switch retail launches:
1) Pokemon Sword/Shield: ~191,000
2) Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: ~145,000
3) Animal Crossing New Horizons: ~138,000
4) Super Smash Bros Ultimate: ~130,000
5) Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee: ~116,000

Animal Crossing New Horizons would be the biggest Switch launch by far once digital sales are included, but Pokemon's retail dominance on Switch is clear.

@mariomaster96 That's true, but then Kanto always gets the extra heaping of pandering. I'd hate to see another remake of Gold and Silver because it just wouldn't hold as much content or love as HGSS.

@Toads-Friend Don't worry. This is only because of new releases and early Black Friday deals. Mario Party Superstars sales actually increased 1% week-on-week. So although it dropped placement-wise, it didn't in terms of actual sales

Disappointed to see SMTV drop so hard and fast. Here’s hoping it managed to sell better in other regions.

@Grumblevolcano Black Friday will change everything next week

All the outrage has not caused a sales boycott, what a shocker.

@The_Pixel_King tbf that’s a pretty niche game to begin with. They usually don’t last long on the charts.

@Dringo That's good news, thank you for the update I hope sales pick up towards holidays...not just for families but people on their own that want to play online. The random online board games are flawless...literally brilliant.
I've played around 20 online now and all great, my first 'rage quitter' last night but they were immediately replaced with the computer on a very similar difficulty to the actual player! It is so smooth and such great fun.

@JohnnyC I am not expecting them to pull off something like botw. GameFreak is not talented enough as a studio. What I seriously don't get is why they decided to cut platinum content. Why they decided not to add post game content. ORAS did it years ago. To this day, platinum is the ultimate version.

@Peach64,

If a Pokemon game selling well that is pretty much designed for kids upsets you, or causes you depression, you need to get out more.

It was pretty obvious that they would sell well. Pokémon is still the biggest multimedia franchise of the world. Last week was COD number 1 and for 5 consecutive weeks before that FIFA 22. The GTA trilogy with all its issues is on the eshop chart in Europe at number 3 right after Pokémon. Those games will sell regardless of quality.

@Grumblevolcano Yes-I hope you are correct.
Mario Party Superstars and Mario 3D World both deserve huge sales, fantastic quality titles that should be evergreen (in my humble Toad opinion, of course!)

Peoples like Dialga than Palkia to see Brilliant Diamond at number 1.

@Thoughts For me, it's the remakes felt like improvements on the 'new' game that came before them. HGSS improved on D&P, ORAS massively improved on X&Y. I'd loved to have seen Diamond and Pearl remade like a modern game, an improvement on Sword and Shield. Instead it's just the same (very good) game as before, with some small quality of life improvements.

@mariomaster96 I'm so stupid I'm I right?

The cycle continues... The minimal-effort remasters will keep coming.

i want to wrap my head around where "these games aren't great" and "these games will still sell well" are somehow conflicting viewpoints--everyone says "What? The whining meant nothing? Shocker... " but everyone I've seen disappointed in the game knows they will sell, and that factors into their disappointment
like take @Johnvboy's comment--assuming the people who were outraged did not buy the game, at the end of the day, Pokemon is still one of the biggest and best selling IPs around. freakin' Pokemon Dash of all things (allegedly) sold 1/3 of what this game has in its first week. so maybe there is a sales boycott, but it would be a complete drop in the bucket in the grand scheme

Even though I have no interest in replaying these games again and kinda burnt out on Pokemon in general I'm still glad to see sells are off to great start. Gamefreak receives too much hate but I'm happy they're still handling the punches and are still going strong with this franchise.

Am really enjoying the game and glad it’s doing just fine. Goes to show all the hate on here means nothing really.

Me and my son are enjoying these remakes, as we never had the chance to play the originals.

I can understand people hating the Chibi artstyle and that is fine.
Simple. Don´t buy these games then, fire up your old (3)DS console and play the originals instead.

Hooray for mediocrity!

Biggest UK retail Switch launches of 2021:
1) Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: ~145,000
2) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury: ~56,000
3) Skyward Sword HD: ~41,000
4) Monster Hunter Rise: ~30,000
5) New Pokemon Snap: ~26,000
6) Metroid Dread: ~23,000
7) Mario Party SuperStars: 17,000-21,000
8) Mario Golf Super Rush: ~16,500

Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl had a bigger launch than Super Mario 3D World, Skyward Sword HD, and Monster Hunter Rise combined at UK retail.

Fun fact: The Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl Double Pack sold ~13,000 units, which means ~26,000 copies of the game were sold via the Double Pack alone. This is higher than the launch sales of Metroid Dread.

@Otoemetry,

So glad it's selling well, just goes to show how niche these crying sessions are on here.

@somebread,

Which was what I was saying, there is just not enough people who are upset to make any difference whatsoever.

I stopped playing after generation 3 so this was my first time playing DP and it is far better than sword and shield imo.

@Maximumbeans Why not.

It's like a Picture of Dorian Gray situation where Pokemon makes a game that's uglier and uglier and they get more and more sales

@Dringo
"Mario Party Superstars sales actually increased 1% week-on-week."

Interesting stat. May I ask where you got this information? Thanks.

@Peach64
I feel you were expecting too much of what these were going to be after what the trailers showed.
Yes there had been a prior president of the remakes being in the new engine ( I would have happily took it if it was the SW&SH engine) but I feel at this time it's a bit of a different situation.

Partly due to it not being Game Freak developing, partly due to in some ways SW&SH not being well received (why do you think they are doing Arceus rather than Gen 9? They probably want to test the waters before pulling the trigger on what Gen 9 will be) but also the fact it has felt like a little while now since we had classic Pokemon and it hasn't yet been on the system so there was a hunger for it.

While that is only 4 years, I personally have enjoyed playing classic Pokemon with the QOL improvements, it's been refreshing, the fact that I never properly played gen 4 the first time has helped (didn't have a DS at the time).

I do however think they should of had the platinum content so the battle frontier (unsure of what else is missing to be fair) and the exp share should have been a toggle (albeit they have already set a president that it isn't) and thus a definitive gen 4 remake.

I think you are right to feel somewhat aggrieved about the change in remake style, but the trailers did show it was not going to be that.
Again it's somewhat of a shame it isn't, but equally they never said they would be.

Technically the next remake on the schedule is Johto for Pokemon.

Global launch sales:
> Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee: 3 million
> Pokemon Sword/Shield: 6 million
> Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: ???

If the UK is of any indication, expect Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl to sell 4.5 to 5 million copies at launch (probably closer to 5 million).

lol, clearly everyone complaining about the game went out and bought it regardless. This is the way.

Seeing a lot of jarring comments attacking the people who complained about the games as somehow being wrong for their opinions just because these games are selling well. This literally just proves the point that dull, infantile casuals are willing to buy anything, even a box of crap, if it says "Pokemon" on the front cover. Congratulations: mediocrity is the new standard.

@Peach64 Every Pokémon remake has been different.

It's a well-known fact that the Pokemon Company is no longer a Game Development studio anymore, they are a multi-media franchise, and even if the games happened to drop in sales it wouldn't cause them to pivot to a different model anytime soon. They make more money off TCG and toys than they do on the games.

I understand the frustration some players have, I think I also sit in the camp of trying to chase the high that we all felt when we played our first game, mine being Yellow on my Game Boy Classic. The best they have achieved in my opinion and many others is the Gold and Siver remakes as that was just more polishing on an already great game.

As I get closer to my 30s I find myself drifting away from the Pokemon Franchise. The last game I bought was Shield, and I didn't bother with the DLC. I find that I can complete the main game in less than a weekend, and then once that's over I don't personally find much joy in the battle towers and my friends either don't play the games or never get to a point to fight me and my high-level pokemon I've ported over all the way back on my DS.

I am a Pokemon fan, and I will come back to it if they ever decide to try a truly new formula - maybe Legends will be good - who knows - I'll wait for the reviews and gameplay of others before I decide to purchase.

This isn't an attack on people who still like the games and are enjoying the new remakes, good for you that you find joy in something, and don't let anyone try to tell you not to enjoy it. I just can't anymore.

Fully Deserved, been having a blast so far, with the underground and contests there's so much more to do in these than sword and shield.

It's a shame to see that my favorite series has no incentive to provide quality experiences

I am a huge Pokémon fan. I’ll be getting this game in a month or two because I’m playing Shin Megami V. I don’t think it’s about mediocrity or anything like that. It’s a remake of great games. Do I like the chibi art style? Not really. Did I enjoy let’s go? Heck yeah. Did I enjoyed Sword and Shield? Heck yeah. Should there be more new things in it? You better believe it, but in the end if I enjoy myself while playing it and I love this series, I’m getting it. So all the haters out there keep on hating because I’ll just keep on playing.

I wonder how legends gonna sell in comparison

@Bahamut_GR Agreed. Living in the time of the lazy remaster unfortunately. But they sell, so it's hard to blame the publishers.

@johnvboy happens time and time again in here doesn’t it? Catch you for the next storm in a teacup…

YES! Great games getting the love and sales they deserve. Congrats go out to the developers for smashing this one out of the park. My kids are ELATED with these ones and I've stayed up late a few nights trying to keep up with them on my own copy! The quality of these remakes is absolutely phenomenal.

Looks like the Sony media and the haters lost, way to go pokemon, these are great games and it is nice to see REAL GAMERS buy great quality games like pokemon, I will be getting both this holiday season

@WiltonRoots,

It won't be long I can guarantee you, just wait until Legends drops next year.

@Primarina There's a difference between attacking people and stating facts. In that instance, I was just stating facts and the truth hurts sometimes.

@mariopartyfan68 just out of mild curiosity, what is a Real Gamer? Is it someone who blindly buys whatever Nintendo puts out? I've seen you rubbish demon souls, thats a 92 on metacritic with a 8.0 user score, considered a masterpiece. But the pokemon game is sitting at 77 with a 6.1 user score? I think I know which one has had more care and attention put into it.

Pokemon fans: This game looks like trash!! I am so mad and disappointed!!!

Also pokemon fans: The game is finally here yay!!!

Seriously people, is fine if you love the game and all but don't cry and complain about the game but ends up buying the game regardless

I haven't got my copies yet (ruddy post!) but it's funny because I generally hate the average 'mobile' aesthetic. Even vector art 2d games remind me of flash games and am (probably un-deservedly) put off by them.

But watching the trailers I actually like the graphics presented here. I think it fits and reminds me of the older games but updated.

I don't think it's as cheap looking as a lot of people do.
Guess a lot of others agree.

@johnvboy Yep looking forward to the next ineffectual bout of serial axe grinders pretending to speak on behalf of fans pre-release to attack the developers.

Then post release seeing the sales figures and suddenly divorcing themselves from the fanbase in order to attack players enjoying the games.

@Dr_Lugae,

Could not have put it any better myself.

What do you know, DP was already perfect as it is. Can't improve much upon perfection.

I’m in shock that people are buying these games in droves. They actually look worse than the originals and are riddles with bugs. Purchasing stuff like this sends the message that subpar work is fine. As long as Pokémon is in the title, I guess people will buy it...

@Gedgenator
You don't need to be a Pokemon fan to play Pokemon games.
And Pokemon BDSP are definetely a better remake on Nintendo Switch with some QoL.

@westman98 GfK’s week 46 market report (I’m the source of the story above, too)

@Toads-Friend Mario Party is a big seller for Nintendo. The last one did massive sales numbers.

@johnvboy if it's not Pokemon it will be some other series, something prior to a game coming out will rub people up the wrong way, walls of texts will be written, folk will be banned and [Removed] will appear everywhere, bingo cards will be filled and the general public will buy it in droves oblivious to the drama. It's fun to watch though.

Shocker that very niche complaints like “forced exp share bad” and “it’s not platinum!” had absolutely no effect lol

Got to laugh at those calling the games mediocre because its basically calling D&P mediocre, honestly the salt here is brilliant. I'm enjoying the game and its nice going back to a more pre-Gen 6 PM game.

@Dringo
So you must be Christopher Dring?

Nice to talk to you then.

I didn't buy the games because of how unfinished the cartridges were, requiring day one patches for basic features. Enjoy them, but get used to unfinished products, I guess.

@WiltonRoots,

Without a doubt, but as you say so fun to watch.

@mariopartyfan68
Real gamer will play Nintendo and other machine games.

@Anti-Matter Real gamers play what they like. And, I play Xbox, PS and PC as well.

@Serialsid It is someone who enjoys great games. Also, I have criticized Nintendo, so I am bragging when they do something good.