Pokemon Sword and Shield sell 1.3 million copies in Japan, biggest debut for a Switch title

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Pokemon Sword and Shield, like most mainline Pokemon games, have had a very successful first few days of release. The pair of games managed to shift 1,364,544 copies within three days after launch in their home country of Japan, dethroning Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's opening week sales record for the Nintendo Switch. This number includes only physical copies, as Media Create, who tracks Japanese game sales, does not count digital sales. Nintendo Switch hardware saw a boost in sales, as well, reaching 180,000 units sold during the launch window for Sword and Shield.

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Jiehfeng

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Despite the number of upvotes there - it is a conversation between 2 Twitter users. Highly anecdotal and only being upvotes due to dexit hysteria in the pokemon fan base.

Despite claims all these sales are from pokemon fanboys (by some) - the fanboys seem to be the loudest ones complaining.

That wasn't my point. The point was that the whole dexit thing many weren't aware of in Japan. Not everyone browses everything about a game, and you need to think in that country's view. Besides, a lot of the sales are also just kids. Anyway, here's the continuation. Point being, there was no official announcement for Japan, and the treehouse thing played for a long time, I doubt many japanese were tuning into something in English, Treehouse is a long stream.

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x65943

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That wasn't my point. The point was that the whole dexit thing many weren't aware of in Japan. Not everyone browses everything about a game, and you need to think in that country's view. Besides, a lot of the sales are also just kids. Anyway, here's the continuation. Point being, there was no official announcement for Japan, and the treehouse thing played for a long time, I doubt many japanese were tuning into something in English, Treehouse is a long stream.

View attachment 187329
Even in the US I gather the people who know about Dexit are the die hard fans. How many Americans really watched the treehouse - I didn't.

You hear about things through secondary sources most often. Anyone in Japan who wanted to know about this easily could have - and I suspect did.

In a globalized world I think it's wrong to assume a first world nation with the largest per capita pokemon fan base has somehow managed to stay uninformed for months. Don't you think this would have been big news for their gaming reporters?
 

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Even in the US I gather the people who know about Dexit are the die hard fans. How many Americans really watched the treehouse - I didn't.

You hear about things through secondary sources most often. Anyone in Japan who wanted to know about this easily could have - and I suspect did.

In a globalized world I think it's wrong to assume a first world nation with the largest per capita pokemon fan base has somehow managed to stay uninformed for months. Don't you think this would have been big news for their gaming reporters?

That's true, I'm really not sure either way, I just wanted to mention that point. It's interesting to note that many Japanese users tweeted #thankyougamefreak at first, but after getting wind of everything, they were the ones who started tweeting #fuckyougamefreak. "Everyone gangsta until the Japanese use the F word"
 
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Something whatever

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It's Pokemon, everyone knew it was destined to do well if it has any lasting impact to the general public it will be felt next game, like The Last Jedi to Solo. Overall I'm sure GameFreak knows about everyone's issues and will hopefully change things for the better next time, otherwise I'm out.
 

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Despite all the complaints about dexit and last gen graphics - the consensus seems to be it's a fun game - which is really all that matters. The sales reflect that.
The game is fun because the Pokemon formula is inherently fun. Catching Pokemons, trading them and fighting with them IS fun, this isn't specific to Sword and Shield. What fans wanted is a better game than just the basic Pokemon game loop.
 

Tom Bombadildo

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That's too bad, just shows Game Freak that people will buy any pile of shit so long as it says Pokemon on the front.

It's not even the dex cut that makes the game bad, that's whatever, it's the utter boring linearity, the lackluster new Pokemon, the garbage tier "SUPER IMPORTANT ANIMATIONS", the shit post game, the shit technical performance, the garbage graphics (in the technical sense, how the fuck can you use so many low res textures when there are plenty of better looking games that perform better??), the lack of a proper Elite Four challenge, etc etc etc, but hey it's Pokemon so that's all ok!
 

osaka35

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I'm fine with the pokemon being cut. I actually prefer it. Made the game fresh and new. I really really enjoyed this game and didn't experience a lot of the "negatives" which were widely circulated beforehand. A nice surprise.

But

It's way too short. The game should have been 2x long, I'd prefer 3x. They should have made the dex open as something to accomplish as after-game content. Personally, I'm hoping for DLC to add a massive after-game content.

These are just physical copies, so I'd be curious to see digital sales as well. When making comparisons, remember to compare only physical sales and not digital sales.
 
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How did this sell more than Smash? C'mon people

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I'm fine with the pokemon being cut. I actually prefer it. Made the game fresh and new. I really really enjoyed this game and didn't experience a lot of the "negatives" which were widely circulated beforehand. A nice surprise.

But

It's way too short. The game should have been 2x long, I'd prefer 3x. They should have made the dex open as something to accomplish as after-game content. Personally, I'm hoping for DLC to add a massive after-game content.

These are just physical copies, so I'd be curious to see digital sales as well. When making comparisons, remember to compare only physical sales and not digital sales.
XY and Sun/Moon were the same until Pokemon Bank came out. So I don't see how it is "new"
 

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Despite all the complaints about dexit and last gen graphics - the consensus seems to be it's a fun game - which is really all that matters. The sales reflect that.
The consensus is that of course it sells well first week. Everyone who doesn't care about the lazy things and bad decisions was bound to get it and get it early.
Next months numbers will be much more telling.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

How did this sell more than Smash? C'mon people

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


XY and Sun/Moon were the same until Pokemon Bank came out. So I don't see how it is "new"
It was always clear that those games would get the other pokemon down the line through transmission. The switch games won't.
 

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The consensus is that of course it sells well first week. Everyone who doesn't care about the lazy things and bad decisions was bound to get it and get it early.
Next months numbers will be much more telling.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


It was always clear that those games would get the other pokemon down the line through transmission. The switch games won't.
I know the switch won't, but not all Pokemon can be caught in a single game, lots are locked behind Pokemon Bank. If you play the game normally, then it's not different as the Pokemon you wouldn't see would be unobtainable through legit means. SWSH goes a step further and deletes them entirely. That being said neither affect the main story.
 
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DeoNaught

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Just a reminder as we see people play whether it be friends, strangers, or family members. If they enjoy the game, let them enjoy it. Game might be shit, but if people enjoy it, there's no reason to kill their fun with the game.

Personally, my friends have bought the game and they say it's rather enjoyable, maybe not fresh or anything, but a fun game, that they enjoy playing.
I'm not really sold still, but it seems that most people enjoy the game, even if it is rather lack luster, and that's what matters.

For me, if they fixed the animations and over world glitches I'd be fine to play the game, other than that I'm keeping my monies.
 
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