Japanese Charts: Pokémon Diamond And Pearl Remakes Stay Top, And They're Selling Faster Than Sword And Shield

Way to go Nintendo dominated Japan once again, no surprise here at all. When you make a quality system with quality games, they are going to sell. Pokemon really deserves its success, as diamond and pearl are some of the best games ever, and Mario party still holding on to second. Keep up the great work Nintendo keep putting out great quality games and you will keep dominating the charts.

my 6 and 8 year old been playing pokemond diamond and loving it to bits

Good to here forget the hate for Pokémon diamond and peril there great games am loving them so far and actually prefer them over Sword and shield.

@PhantomJedi I believe they mean that its selling at better rates than Sword and Shield did at their launch

@PhantomJedi think they mean in the same time frame.

Animal Crossing should hit 7million physical before Christmas, jeepers. Switch sales are unreal, hats off to Nintendo. There’ll be three Switch in my house on Christmas Day, and I’d say my house in not unique there.

@PhantomJedi if you read the article you can see nintendolife was comparing the second week sales of both games, not the current week sales. BDSP sold 10k more copies in lifetime sales after 2 weeks compared to SWSH after 2 weeks.

Man, Xmas can’t come fast enough. I bought Diamond & Pearl for my kids as gifts. I got Pearl for myself but decided to wait to open it until I gave them their copies. I don’t know if I’m going to make it…

@NCRunner
Quite right. My bad for only reading the headline.

I can only imagine how big of a nightmare it is to secure an OLED. Much like PS5 and XSX.

Nintendo is really killing it out there. It's great to see all those games in the top 10. It's just so odd to see the actual difference in copies between the number 1 and 2. Even if you add all the sales from 2 thru 10, you don't even get to the amount of copies being sold of BD/SP. It's just astounding to see how popular Pokémon still is, despite all the criticisms about the remakes. I know a lot of people will say: "Pokémon fans will buy anything with the name slapped on it." But I suppose it is a loud minority that has so much criticism and the rest of the players just seem to enjoy the game for what it is.

@PhantomJedi I think they mean faster than Sword and Shield did even 2 years ago when they were themselves new.

Here's the interesting tidbit:
1. [NSW] Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
9. [NSW] Shin Megami Tensei V

How low can SMTV drop when it was selling so good??? Maybe all those numbers weren't true sales.

And here is more numbers that one should expect to be in PS favor but isn't.
1. Switch – 67,011 (17,521,471)
2. Switch Lite – 39,586 (4,234,895)
3. Switch OLED Model – 15,976 (392,977)
4. PlayStation 5 – 7,391 (995,791)
5. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 1,596 (190,441)

One would at least expect PS to be higher then OLED sales number but isn't. Even the non-OLED is still selling better. And the thing about this all 10 spot are NSW. At least a PS5 game would be expect to show there.

Shocked there are no crybabies here yet to tell us how bad the remakes are

@marnelljm Shocked there are no crybabies here to tell us how bad the remakes are
I am still waiting for NintenDoomed fandom to tweet how sad they are disappointed in lack of sales.

LOL. This is absurd xD

The remakes are awesome and lovingly made, these sales are well deserved.

@CactusMan 😂, yes! And he beat the first few gyms for me too 😉

@SwitchForce SMT is niche, so the majority of people interested in it buy it within the first week or two of release.

Same thing happens with most games, really.

@SwitchForce What PS5 game would that even be? All games so far for the PS5 appeal mainly to western gamers aside maybe from Demons Souls but that one is already a year old by now.

I hate this. This means more low budget barebones Pokemon games.

SMTV hanging in there with the big boys! Interested to see how it sells digitally. At the moment it's still 100k behind SMTIV's physical sales

@JudaiMasters What PS5 game would that even be? All games so far for the PS5 appeal mainly to western gamers aside maybe from Demons Souls but that one is already a year old by now.
That's the stereotyping which region only buys PS5 that isn't helpful to either consoles games. Who cares how old it's the sales figure indicates how well a consoles sells - this tells consumer which to get as well.

@Meteoroid Yeah if anything they'll probably be celebrating no drop in sales for the remake while being able to release a big new game Legends Arcues next month.

There could very well be two Pokemon games selling 10-15million or more releasing within 2 months of each other. Which would be unprecedented.

Animal Crossing New Horizons almost hitting 7m. I've honestly been enjoying the update more than Pokemon Brillaint Diamond. I haven't even got the home designer dlc yet.

While I don't agree with the quality of these specific entries, Im sure there are plenty of people having a ton of fun with the game and Pokemon has been doing a good job of staying relevant throughout the years. I'm waiting for Legends Arceus before I pick up another entry though, decided to pass on this one as Gen 4 never really stood out to me personally

So happy to see Mario Party Superstars selling well!!! It really is fantastic and has so much replay value, the online board games are so brilliant

Surprised at how both the Xbox consoles were selling over a thousand last week but now the 2DS has overtaken them.

It’s selling better because SwSh was tragically terrible.

A year ago I would never have taught the Xbox would out sell a Sony system still in production in its homeland of Japan but here we are and the Xbox series has once again outsold the PS4.
The PS4 may be last gen but that hasn't stopped the 3ds from outselling Microsoft's home consoles.

PS5 must be doing Wii U numbers over there. Unbelievable!

@Ralizah I'd say don't feed the troll (as in replying to Switch Force)... but you're totally right. Most people don't realize that few titles are evergreen titles (your Marios, Zeldas, Animal Crossings, Pokemon, Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, etc) as most titles don't see prolonged sales and most make most of their total sales in the first 3-12 months then forgotten about. That is one of the reasons Atlus games tend to be so hard to find physically after their first year because Atlus tends to do short print runs unless it is Etrian Odyssey and Persona for some reason. Look at Tales of Arise a game with equal amounts of praise and sales, it is not even charting either after a strong first few months and it was on PS4, PS5 and PC.

People just need to keep their expectations in check that most games are not evergreen titles and tend to fall out of the charts after a few months... it happens.

Pokemon selling as good as always. Game Freak are never going to make more ambitious games, why should they? People buy their stuff despite the quality.

@the_beaver ughhhhh two words Legends Arceus. That game is radically different from the standard Pokemon game.

@Meteoroid You're totally right! I was being exceptionally generous and really it is closer to a month. And the heavy discounts tend to be why I don't buy games at launch anymore unless it is a Nintendo game (they almost never get discounted unless it is Black Friday) or a game I know I will have a hard time finding if I wait.

Honestly, it is quite liberating to not be bound to the cycle of hype and release and take my time to buy the games I want. That and I have less of a backlog this way. If I cannot remember the game after a couple of months I probably was not that interested in playing it in the first place!

At least they run at a steady fps and have the national dex. I know a lot of people dislike the chibi artstyle but I think BDSP is way better than SwSh.

@Zimon I know a lot of people dislike the chibi artstyle but I think BDSP is way better than SwSh.
I myself like the Chibi art for this game since it remains true game origins and looks. I think people just have to many finger clicking and nothing else to do.

Hang in there SMT V!

@RupeeClock It's not disappointing in any way. Software sales don't scale linearly with hardware. It's with digital by far the biggest opening for any Pokémon remake and the first time the remake opened up higher than the previous new game. BD/SP is an enormous success.

@Matty1988 SMT IV was at 226k launch aligned, that's 51k behind not 100k.

The PS4 sales number was really low. 😯

So the Switch is dominant in Japan. Was the strongest selling console in the US last month and has just had the best week since launch in the UK,

I don't ever remember a console being almost 5 years old and having this sort of success! Rightly so, it's my favourite console ever and I never thought I would ever get attached to a console like I did when I was younger! Bravo, Nintendo. You totally deserve this.

There must be some really embarrassed folk who thought Nintendo should go third party a few years ago lol. I just think it's bloody marvelous at least one games company still takes risks with being creative about making...y'know, games.

@RupeeClock,

You can't always look at it that way, sure the install base is much higher for these new games, but by the same token sales of sword and shield have not shot up massively with all these extra Switch owners either.

This goes to show Japan will never embrace powerful hardware over there. To them they favor simplicity and portability. I'm sure the Switch OLED would had sold better if Nintendo dropped that price to $300 while base Switch dropped to $200 while Switch Lite dropped to $100. The majority of gamers there also doesn't care about the better screen either. If they could have the hybrid feature at an affordable price without dealing with scalpers, then the base Switch still reign supreme. Sony at this point may just bow away from the Japanese market and go after the European and Australian crowd. Nintendo got North and South America, China, and the whole Asian market cover. Microsoft at this point isn't even trying anymore.

@BTB20 Where did I mention launch aligned? It's 100k behind the last reported physical sales before SMTIV fell off the charts

@Specter_of-the_OLED
The Switch OLED would be selling better if Nintendo could sufficiently provide enough supply.

@Anti-Matter

Anyone in Japan who wants a PS4 already has one.

Truth is, the Switch dominates because handhelds dominate Japan and have done so since the 7th generation broke out. Sony hit its high in Japan with the PS2 and every PlayStation since has fallen farther and farther behind in the land of the rising sun.

The Switch is made for the Japanese gamer. They work longer hours than westerners and are more likely to use public transport for long commutes to work. Can’t pack your PS5 on a train with you, but you can with the Switch. Their homes, especially their living rooms, are dramatically smaller than European or American housing. The Switch takes up very little space on a tv stand. Plus Japanese consumers have always had an obsession with compact gaming hardware.

That’s why Sony has transitioned to mostly focusing on Western gamers. Microsoft is still attempting to get some movement going over there but I don’t understand why they waste their time and resources. The 360 was designed specifically to appeal to Japanese gamers and it flopped right out of the gate.

Nintendo owns Japan now. And will continue to do so for a long time.

@Specter_of-the_OLED

Sony is still king of the United States. They define the industry here.

Nintendo is extremely successful. Especially with portable centric gamers (I mean there are no other choices besides gaming laptops and those things are portable only in the sense that you can move them from one table to another before you throw your back out), as a secondary console for hardcore (like myself), and they are stupidly popular with American women.

But with the hardcore crowd, Sony is still king. With PC second and Microsoft dragging third in terms of their influence on the industry.

If not for the supply constraint, I guarantee PS5 would be at 20 million in the US alone right now. The demand is stupid.

Best Pokémon games on Switch, hands down

It's Pokemon, it's gonna sell well no matter how good or poor the games are. The Pokemon company could make Pokemon: Bidoof Potato Simulator version and it would still sell 2+ million per region.

@Ralizah yea i got it on release date

@TheRedComet, That is a myth that is simply not true. The Switch is on pace to sell 24 Million in 2021 alone, that is more than any year the Playstation had in HISTORY. The best year Sony ever had with the Playstation is when they shipped 22.5 Million consoles with the PS2 back in 2002, which was the best selling console of all time with peak momentum. No Playstation console in HISTORY was able to sell 24 Million in one year. How in the world could a first year Playstation console with barely any next gen exclusives sell 20 Million alone in the US. first year consoles typically never sell over 16Million even with full stock. To believe that the PS5 could sell 20 Million in its first year in the US alone when Playstation even during its peak was NEVER able to even hit 24 Million in one year ( worldwide ). Ps5 wouldn't outsell the Switch even if it was fully stocked.

Haha 20 million us alone that is 45 million worldwide in one year. Keep dreaming !

Glad I ignored the 6/10 review and went ahead with getting Brilliant Diamond. I've been thoroughly enjoying every moment of it so far. ^_^