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Pokemon Setting Sales Records
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Although streetcorners are filled with Otaku proclaiming the death of the "yellow rat", Pokémon continues to set new records in video game sales, as well as expanding numbers of broadcasts around the world.
On October 24th, Nintendo announced that Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver sold over 1.4 million copies in their first week of release in the U.S. The previous record was held by Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, which sold 600,000 copies in its first week of release last fall.
"So far in 2000 the best-selling game in America... for any handheld video game system is Pokémon Yellow for Game Boy Color," said Peter Main, Nintendo's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "But Pokémon Gold and Silver will eclipse even those impressive sales totals. We project sales of 10 million units total of these two games in less than six months time."
Pokémon games account for 10% of all the video games sold in the United States to date this year.
In other news, the TV series of Pokémon has been well-recieved by broadcasters in Europe and beyond. Numerous countries have signed with 4Kids Etertainment for new episodes. Scandinavia is entering its second season of Pokémon broadcasts, while stations in Russia, Iceland, and Finland have acquired their first season of episodes.
