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‘Pokémon Sun’ and ‘Moon’ are Nintendo of America’s fastest-selling games ever

By Danny Cowan November 30, 2016

pokemon sun and moon break nintendo sales records pokemonsunrecord — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Pokémon phenomenon is showing no signs of stopping. Nintendo reports that its latest series sequels, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, are now the fastest-selling video games in Nintendo of America’s history, breaking the company’s previous regional sales records by a significant margin.

Since launching earlier this month, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon have sold a combined total of 3.7 million units in the Americas, surpassing Pokémon X and Pokémon Y‘s previous launch-window regional sales record by 85 percent.

Originally appearing on Nintendo’s monochrome Game Boy handheld console, the Pokémon series recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, leading to a resurgence in popularity. Nintendo commemorated the anniversary by launching 3DS Virtual Console versions of the original Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue games in February, welcoming onetime fans back into its monster-collecting digital realm.

Pokémon’s popularity later reached new heights with the release of Pokémon Go, an augmented reality smartphone app that fills real-world spaces with collectible Pokémon creatures. The app has seen numerous updates in the months since its launch, keeping players hooked with new gameplay features and new Pokémon to catch.

On November 18, Nintendo released its latest generation of core-series Pokémon games, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Available exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld consoles, Pokémon Sun and Moon feature a tropical setting and a small army of new Pokémon, who appear in-game alongside redesigned favorites.

“With these huge sales figures, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon have proved themselves as two of the hottest video games to buy this holiday season,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “With great reviews and outstanding fan response, these next iterations in the Pokémon series are sure to please any player in the family.”

Pokémon Sun and Moon players can look forward to new events and features in the months ahead, including global challenges and support for the Pokémon Bank creature storage application.

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During the November 2023 Indie World Showcase, it was revealed that many intriguing indie titles are coming to the Nintendo Switch over the next year. One of the show's biggest announcements was that Outer Wilds -- a critically acclaimed sci-fi game about exploring a solar system throughout repeating time loops -- is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch next month.

A Nintendo Switch port for Outer Wilds was first teased in 2021 and intended to be released during the summer of that year, but it did not make that release window. We did not hear much else about the port until now outside of a mention during one of publisher Annapurna Interactive's own showcases. An Indie World Showcase segment dedicated to the game showed some of its physics-based spacefaring gameplay in action on the Switch, and it seemed to look nice and run at a solid frame rate. Called Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition, this version of the game comes with the Echoes of the Eye DLC and will launch digitally on December 7. It will get a physical Switch release sometime next year.

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Play these 3DS and Wii U games before Nintendo shutters their online features

Captain Falcon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In April 2024, Nintendo will discontinue online services across its Wii U and 3DS consoles. While the eShops for both systems were shut down in March 2023, this will remove the online functionality of many apps and games, making gaming on either of these platforms an almost entirely offline experience. As a result, many games on those systems will lose important features and never be quite the same to play afterward. So, you'll need to get some gaming time in by next April if you want to refresh and preserve the memories of playing online on these two underdog Nintendo platforms.
While the aforementioned eShop closures make it impossible to buy new games digitally, plenty of games that you likely already own physical copies of or already had downloaded have online features that won't work properly come April 2024. As such, we recommend you play the following games online before the discontinuation of those services next year.
Kid Icarus Uprising

Kid Icarus Uprising is mostly remembered for its entertaining story, charismatic characters, and odd controls, but it also features a surprisingly fun multiplayer experience in Together Mode. In multiplayer, up to six players can use powerful weapons and abilities from the main adventure in one of two modes. Free-for-all lets players loose on a map, tasking them with racking up the most kills within a set time limit. Light vs. Dark is more complex, as two teams of three face off until enough players are defeated that one respawns as an angel; when that powered-up angel is killed, the match is over.
While far from balanced, Kid Icarus Uprising's Together Mode is one of the most entertaining competitive multiplayer experiences exclusive to 3DS. It can be played locally, using bots to fill in empty spots, so thankfully it won't stop working entirely. Still, it's not easy in 2023 to come across multiple people near you who have copies of Kid Icarus Uprising and want to play. As such, check out this cult classic 3DS game's hidden gem of a mode before praying that the rumors of a remaster eventually become true.
Nintendo Badge Arcade

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Nintendo is shutting down online services for 3DS and Wii U next April

Mega Man and Mario fight in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U,

Nintendo confirmed it will widely shut down online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games in April 2024, which will be just over a year after it discontinued the Nintendo eShop on those systems.
This deactivation of most of the online services for those platforms was revealed on X (formerly Twitter) and Nintendo's support site early Wednesday. "In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution," the message says. "We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date. Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned. We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience."
Essentially, this means that after April 2024, you won't be able to use any online features in things like 3DS Pokémon games or Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U anymore. Nintendo does say in the Q&A section of its support article that people will still be able to play games offline and redownload updates and games from the Nintendo eShop for the foreseeable future. Pokémon Bank will remain unaffected, so it'll still be possible to transfer Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire all of the way to Pokémon Home. However, SpotPass support and other online-focused applications like Nintendo Badge Arcade will stop working entirely.

Just like the Wii U and 3DS eShop closure that caused a ruckus earlier this year, this move is a blow to game preservation and will forever harm some games not available anywhere else. While it's understandable that Nintendo might want to move on from these systems' dated online infrastructure, it's still a disappointing move for those of us who spent a lot of time playing games offline and online on these systems.