Pokémon GO is an augmented reality (AR) game that mixes the real world with the virtual world, helping people catch their favorite critters from the hit anime TV series. Since its launch, the game has generated more than $200 million in just one month, and seems to be the reason why Nintendo 3DS, and the Pokémon games released for the handheld have sold really well in July 2016.
According to the NPD Group, the Nintendo 3DS was the most sold gaming device of July, more than 80% units were sold when compared to July 2015. The sales of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were also 80% higher in contrast to the same month last year. However, the real games were Pokémon X and Y, which sold more than 200% when compared to the previous year.
Nintendo claims that the sales growth is due to an increase in the popularity of Pokémon GO. The game has caused a huge population, who did not know what Pokémon are, to become involved in AR monster catching. If you combine this with those who hard die-hard fans of the series, you will get quite a large amount of people who are playing the game now.
We should give a huge round of applause to Monster Hunter Generations for taking first place in the most number of software sales for July. Capcom should be proud of its action-RPG, and consider to bring updates and DLC for it. By looking at this, it feels like the handheld might have a few more years to go before it finally dies, unlike the Wii, which is already on the brink of annihilation.
With all the latest sensation, we trust that Pokémon Sun and Moon will most probably increase 3DS sales. The upcoming games will change the way people have been playing Pokémon, as gym battles have been replaced with an infamous “Island Challenge.” The new attacks called Z-Moves have been implemented that acts like special attacks. A Battle Royale has been added that will pit four Pokémon against each other in order to find out the strongest one.
