According to independent sales data gathered by the NPD Group, the two best-selling games in April were Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl, exclusively for the Nintendo DS, followed by Super Paper Mario and Wii Play for the Wii. Combined sales for the two related Pokémon titles exceeded 1.75 million units in just 14 days of availability during the reporting period.
The DS remained the most popular game system of any kind in April, with projected sales of more than 470,000 units. At the same time, the Wii from Nintendo, despite nearly universal sold-out status, was still purchased by twice as many consumers as any other home game console, according to the NPD data. Unit sales of 360,000 Wii systems in April bring the console’s installed base in America to nearly 2.5 million in less than six months on the market.
“Nothing is more valuable in the entertainment world than an evergreen franchise,” says Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO, Nintendo of America. “These new Pokemon titles have cemented their place alongside the most enduring intellectual properties of the book, music and movie industries. And that appeal will expand even further with the introduction of Pokemon Battle Revolution to our Wii home console next month.”
