14 DAY TRIAL // Pokemon Black and White, the Nintendo powered title that had already been nominated as the best selling video game release on the Japanese market, has now managed to become the fastest game on the Nintendo DS platform that has moved more than five million units on the home market.
The news comes via Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu which is quoting sales data from Enterbrain and from Media Create, the two companies that track video games sales in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The two versions of the game, which have small differences in terms of character line up in order to encourage interaction between players, have managed to sell 5,036,724 copies on January 9 of this year, after a launch date of September 18, 2010.
Pokemon Black and White has become the fifth game to sell more than 5 million units on the DS family of devices, joining such gaming icons as New Super Mario Bros. and Nintendogs.
The next video game to come close to breaking through the five million barrier is Monster Hunter Portable 3rd from Capcom, which ended the year on 3,480,989 units sold after being launched on December 10.
It's not clear whether the Pokemon Company and Nintendo are planning to launch a new title in the long-running series exclusively on the new 3DS hardware, which is set to launch in Japan on February 26, or whether the two companies are preparing a series of remakes for that platform.
The 3DS is the first mobile gaming device that will allow players to experience full three-dimensional gaming without the need to use any specialized and uncomfortable glasses.
Interest in the new device is very high with publishers ready to bring important franchises, ranging from Mario and Zelda to Madden NFL and Metal Gear Solid, to it.
Launch dates for the 3DS in North America and Europe will be revealed on January 19.