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Pokemon Sun and Moon are the most preordered games in Nintendo's history [UPDATE]

Both titles also rank as the most downloaded 3DS demos in that console's history.

David Craddock

October 27, 2016 3:27 PM

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UPDATE (3:40 pm Pacific)

Nintendo clarified that the Pokemon Sun and Moon demo was downloaded over 3.5 million times during its first week of availability. The company did not provide a figure for how many units of both games it has pre-sold.

Original Story Follows

Nintendo of America sent out a tweet proclaiming Pokemon Sun and Moon as the most pre-ordered games in its history.

In a two-for-one deal, both games also rank as the most downloaded 3DS demo on Nintendo's handheld.

"With the launch of the first Pokemon video games 20 years ago, the Pokemon brand quickly became a global sensation and hasn't left popular culture since," said a Nintendo spokesperson in a PR statement. "The Pokemon brand's 20-year celebration in 2016 has ignited fans' passion for the beloved franchise across the country and around the world with a wide variety of initiatives and new launches."

While Pokemon has indeed been a phenomenon for decades, ebbing and flowing as new games and products are released, the property owes its most recent surge in popularity to Niantic's Pokemon Go. The AR game for mobile devices grossed over $600 million faster than any other mobile title, and has also been responsible for boosting sales of related merchandise.

GameStop CEO Paul Raines admitted that hundreds of his brick-and-mortar store locations were designated as gyms and PokeStops, bringing in huge tides of customers that caused a surge in business.

"We surveyed our stores, and we had 462 stores just this past weekend that are Pokemon Stops or Poke Gyms, so we did some family events and our sales were up 100 percent in those stores," Raines said (via GameRant).

Pokemon Sun and Moon will be available on 3DS (and 2DS) systems on November 18.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.