| ToraTiger said: Oh, I agree. I know I'll be buying one this year and probably both Pokemon X and Y. XD |
And that's the Pokémon effect. It's the reason I stress the importance of that franchise so much -- those games are what make Nintendo's handhelds go from "I'll get one eventually" to "I NEED THAT RIGHT NOW."
I mean, the DS got New Super Mario Bros. in early-ish 2006 in all three main regions. The console sold over 5 mil hardware in America, over 6 mil in Europe that year. The 360 didn't break 5 mil in America (its strongest market) until 2010, 5 years after launch; the PS3 never broke 6 mil in Europe, its strongest market. Those are great figures. How could the DS possibly one-up itself?
With Pokémon, of course! Diamond & Pearl, the first main-series Pokémon games for DS, released in America and Europe in 2007. The DS sold over 8.7 million units in America in 2007 and over 10.7 million in Europe, for increases of 73% and 78% YOY respectively. HOT DAMN.
That's the Pokémon effect.
(for the record, a 70% increase in America & Europe YOY with a smaller increase in Japan would plant the 3DS well over 20 million hardware sales for 2013.)
