Pokémon Black/White Has the Biggest Opening Ever in Japan - News

by VGChartz Staff , posted on 21 September 2010 / 7,288 Views

Pokémon Black/White preorders reached an enormous volume in Japan - 1.65m several days before release - and despite being under shipped at some retailers relative to those final preorders, the game sold 2.63m units according to Japanese tracker Enterbrain in two days (Sept 18-19) for the week ending September 19, 2010. Rival Japanese tracker Media-Create has also reported the first shipment was a staggering 2.85m units week one. Traditionally, sell through of over 85% is not ideal, as it means many retailers have run out of the game - companies tend to aim for 70% sell through, given week twos are usually a third of week one. Selling 2.63m out of 2.85m shipped copies amounts to 92%+ sell through, an amazing figure for volumes this large.

If you combine week one sales from every region in the world for a single game over the history of video games, Pokémon Black/White is already the 12th biggest single-platform release of all time, and that is without seeing week one sales in the Americas and EMEAA as other games have.

Biggest Week One Openings Worldwide Ever (Worldwide, Single Platform)

1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - X360 - Activision - 4.94m

2) GTA: San Andreas - PS2 - Take Two - 3.99m

3) Halo 3 - X360 - Microsoft - 3.82m

4) Pokémon Diamond/Pearl - DS - Nintendo - 3.49m

5) Grand Theft Auto IV - X360 - Take Two - 3.38m

6) Halo 2 - Xbox - Microsoft - 3.30m

7) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - Activision - 3.25m

8) Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver - DS - Nintendo - 2.96m

9) Final Fantasy XII - PS2 - Square-Enix - 2.82m

10) Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Wii - Nintendo - 2.72m

11) Final Fantasy XIII - PS3 - Square-Enix - 2.70m

12) Pokémon Black/White - Nintendo - 2.63m (Japan ONLY - top eleven titles include Americas & EMEAA)

Once the game is released in the Americas and EMEAA regions, week one sales should be, at a bare minimum well over 4m, good for first or second all time on the current rankings, given that Diamond/Pearl opened to over 1.8m units in those regions when the DS base was much smaller. Given the 50% growth in week one sales from Diamond/Pearl in Japan, a 5m week one is not out of the question if the West follows a similar pattern.

In Japan, Pokémon Black/White is the first release ever to top 2.6m in Japan in a single week, i.e. this is the biggest first week of sales ever for a game in Japan. It also the most units of software a single game has ever sold in any week in the history of Japanese video games. Only 41 games in Japan have even topped 2.6m units lifetime - by the end of week two Pokémon Black/White should easily be amongst the thirty best selling games of all time in Japan. Given the enormous size of the DS base in Japan - 31.2m - there is a very real possibility that Black/White reaches 7m units in Japan, or 25% penetration on DS. The previous new Pokémon game for DS - Pokémon Diamond/Pearl has sold over 12m units in the West, so there is also the very real possibility that Pokémon Black/White will eventually reach 20m units worldwide, becominig the fourth DS title (after Nintendogs, NSMB DS, and Brain Age - which will be over 20m eventually) to reach that plateau.

Contact VGChartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com

25 Comments

Hephaestos (on 24 September 2010)

Actually isn't it 13th since the list doesn't account for Halo reach (dunno the correct value but I assume over 3M)

Joking asside, this will likely be my first pokemon game... I totaly missed out on the rest, and well don't want to miss the whole thing for its gaming cultural value at the least.

amacfantasy (on 23 September 2010)

Yea i was gana say Jin_Shihouin at least FFVIII is missing on this list because the database does not have the USA and Europe sales at all which would easily put it in this list. Also TheSource I would not says pokemon would obliterate FF all the time, like i said earlier FFVIII sold 2.6 million first week japan back in 1999 and on top of that it was probably at a higher average price. While yes this was only in Japan that was pretty amazing and the sales else where would have been much higher than the 30 or 35$ price tag so revenue wise might equal out or be lil morme

amacfantasy (on 23 September 2010)

This got me thinking about FFVIII's insane japan 1st week opener back in 1999 for 2.6 million , does anyone know how many days that first week's 2.6 million was actually tracked for? LIke was is a couples days or all seven?

J.U.N.O (on 22 September 2010)

Wow I thought gamers would be tired of the same formula being used over again for so many years, but its stronger than ever.

Dv8thwonder (on 22 September 2010)

Pokemon: It's power is mighty and limitless!

American_Ali (on 22 September 2010)

2,6 million in 2 days and just japan?!? thats fucking insane!!

Paperdiego (on 22 September 2010)

...wow and i thought nintendo was making a mistake in making another major pokemon game for the ds instead of the 3ds.

cromeros (on 22 September 2010)

Sorry Sonyers...!!!... 2.63 million ... ONLY in 2 days... :O.... Monster Hunter Portable will sale less... Nintendo did it again... Next victim... PS Move ... soon... 29/09... :)

aoixgp (on 21 September 2010)

Pokemon cant wait!

Sapphire (on 21 September 2010)

Pokemon is beast!!

elmerion (on 21 September 2010)

@Risen Terran, this game just proved the power of content, i got an extrmely avid pokemon fan friendo and he is just hyped about how the new cities are, the new enviroments, and the new music of course. Changing the gameplay would be ridicoulous for one of the best rpgs ever, and it hasnt improved pokemon sales at all, new content will

haxxiy (on 21 September 2010)

Teh powa ov teh Pokémans!

Shanobi (on 21 September 2010)

Gearbox, we look at the sales of games per system. Comparing a game that is only available on one platform, to a game available to two platforms is not a way to analyze how a game sells. If you just want to see the sheer sales of one title, add them. But for analysts, it doesn't factor into the equation.

Who's going to win this week's big game, people? It's the New York Giants versus Green Bay and Pittsburg...

Christian973 (on 21 September 2010)

I bought my copy from Playasia :) Now to buy both versions when it hits the states :P

AlienDude (on 21 September 2010)

Getting black or white as soon as they come out in the uk :)

riders42 (on 21 September 2010)

I'll be buying at least one of these games when they come to Canada

Gearbox (on 21 September 2010)

do you think its fair to split up modern warfare 2 xbox and ps3 versions? same goes with all the other multiplatform titles, its the same game... imo.

RisenTerran (on 21 September 2010)

BUT POKEMON IS A FAD!!!!

XD

the irony around all this hype is that this game is the smallest jump in gameplay since pokemon gold. R/S Added a ttoaly revamped battle and stat system. D/P Added a new attack split and went full bore on trying to enhance old pokemon.

Sadly B&W Just randomly slings around a host of abilities (some insane like drizzle and drought on former NU/UU pokemon) and adds no new feature (though it does add wi-fi equally worthless to PBR in the mix).

I will probably get it, but man am I dissapointed by the lack of new features and the HORRIBLE wi-fi. If they come with a new PBR Game with good wi-fi and focus on balance with the 3rd game I could definatly be swayed back into full blown poke-fever :P

Salnax (on 21 September 2010)

Sorry for underestimating you Pokemon.

Jin_Shihouin (on 21 September 2010)

Oh, it makes a difference. The more FF on the list the better. Doesn't matter how high they r on the list.

And well, maybe complete the data for the biggest selling games first before making these lists. shrugs

TheSource (on 21 September 2010)

Yeah, but I'm just going with the data we have available - our database isn't complete by any stretch of the imagination. Doesn't impact anything really - Pokemon will obliterate FF first weeks on a single platform.