Pokémon X and Y, two new Nintendo 3DS games, have sold more than 4 million units since premiering on January 3.
If that kind of pace continues the pair of Pokémon games will become the fastest-selling games for the handheld Nintendo 3DS of all time.
Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of the Pokémon Company, shared the success with CNN.
“From the beginning, communication between players has been the primary goal for the Pokémon brand,” he said. “Today, the ability to connect millions of people around the world via Wi-Fi is why launching ‘Pokémon X’ and ‘Pokémon Y’ simultaneously worldwide was an ambitious yet important goal.”
The new games are different from previous games, Ishihara said.
“X and Y represent the X-axis and the Y-axis, but not in a scientific sense,” he said. “Each person’s thought process, though different, tends to intersect somewhere. I‘d like to think this commonality or intersection occurs when people of diverse backgrounds play ’Pokémon X‘ and ’Pokémon Y' together.”
The games include a new transformation ability called Mega Evolve, which has Pokémon evolve stronger forms of themselves as they battle and gain experience, but not all Pokémon can evolve.
“(This) requires players to use new strategies while they play, taking the brand to a new dimension,” Ishihara said. “This is yet another reason we chose titles that were theoretical instead of names based on colors or precious stones.”
