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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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Nintendo Switch Online just added two retro classics, as Pokémon Stadium 2 and Pokémon Trading Card Game are now available on the service. Both games have been updated to feature online multiplayer.

Both announcements come from today's Pokémon Presents stream, which primarily focused on updates to mobile games and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Nintendo Switch Online got a small block during the presentation, when it was revealed that the two games were dropping on Switch shortly after the stream.

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Marvel’s Midnight Suns for Nintendo Switch canceled ahead of last-gen launch

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Superhero strategy game Marvel's Midnight Suns is getting its long-delayed Xbox One and PS4 port on May 11, but there's some bad news for Nintendo Switch owners: The Switch version of the game has been canceled.
2K Games and Firaxis released Marvel's Midnight Suns, a card-based strategy game focusing on the supernatural side of the Marvel comic book universe, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S last December. While Digital Trends enjoyed the game, it underperformed financially and the game's director left Firaxis altogether following its release. Originally slated to launch alongside the current-gen versions of Midnight Suns in October 2022, the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch versions of the game were indefinitely delayed when the game was pushed to December.

Now, the PS4 and Xbox One ports will finally come out digitally alongside the Blood Storm expansion on May 11, but 2K confirmed in the press release announcing the date that "the Nintendo Switch version of Marvel's Midnight Suns will no longer be offered as part of updated plans."
Additionally, the release calls Blood Storm the "final" DLC for Midnight Suns, so it seems unlikely that the game will continue to receive lots of post-launch support, unlike other Firaxis titles such as Sid Meier's Civilization VI and XCOM 2. That's certainly a more muted ending than one would expect from a Marvel game from the industry's premier strategy developers.
Marvel's Midnight Suns will finally launch for PS4 and Xbox One on May 11. It's currently available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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As the 3DS eShop closes, devs reflect on a golden age of Nintendo indies

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The 3DS eShop is no longer allowing Nintendo fans to make new game purchases, marking the end of a long era of DS-branded handhelds. Not only that, but it's also sunsetting a vibrant indie community in the process. After helping smaller developers break through with WiiWare and DSiWare, the 3DS eShop was where indies really started to flourish on Nintendo consoles. Multiple games and developers built success stories on the platform, starting series that are still recognized in the eyes of Nintendo fans and stand as some of the 3DS’ most iconic games.

Within a year of the eShop's launch, WayForward's Mighty Switch Force provided one of the system's best 3D experiences, Renegade Kid's Mutant Mudd showed the potential of a platformer where players can hop between the foreground and background, and Hörberg Productions' Gunman Clive provided a short, sweet, and cheap throwback platformer experience with lots of styles. By 2014, Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight had cemented itself as one of the best indie games of all time on the 3DS. Titles like that gave the 3DS a reputation as a haven for smaller developers. a platform where they could break out of a niche and connect with a larger audience.