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

Pokemon-Sword-and-Shield-Pokedex-1206065.jpg

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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spotanjo3

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Not surprised. Really hate Pokemon games. Tried it and lost interested in it fast than I can count. Not my absolutely things but good for Pokemon fans, thought.
 

x65943

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The Pokemon fanbase has a very low standard for what constitutes a good video game, so I'm not surprised - most will buy just about anything that has the logo on it and they're happy as Larry. Even when they complain, they'll still buy a product they know is sub-par because "you have to support the developers" or "they've put so much love into the game". No, they didn't, it's lazily done and looks like it fell out of a last gen bargain bin. I'm sort of glad that the formerly pristine image of the franchise has some big cracks in it now, I just wish the fans were more outraged by the audio-visual and technical shortcomings of the game and not The Great Pokemon Culling which was a long time coming considering the fact that half of the Pokedex is just trash.
Honestly SUMO was a worse game from what I have seen and people complained less. This fan base is only interested in pokeman.
Granted, it probably only matters a little if your pokemon didn't make it in if you bought this 60$ game for the 15 hour main story.

It matters if you care for the 200 hours of online, breeding and battle tower, that usually used to come after that main story.

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



90% of buyers that double dipped, did so for the additional save slot. the ability to start over without losing what they already gained or because there was a sibling hat also wanted to play.

doing it for the exclusives died with the GTS. now buying twice for more saves dies.
Wait can't you just change profiles for another save? You could in let's go Eevee and Pikachu
 

Pandaxclone2

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I was questioning why people buy two versions of the same game. Not about the sales.

No it really isn't because it's just a simple AR code that all pokemon games have when they come out.

I would argue that the whole "buy two versions" holds more weight back before GTS was introduced in the Gen IV games. Not everyone has a friend with the opposite copy of the game, let alone if they would co-operate with trading certain 'mons like starters with you. Buying both versions guarantees that you control which Pokemon you need to trade to one another in order to get what you need, or even fill out the Pokedex.

Then Gen IV came out and did away with link cables and providing access to global servers, making it easier than ever to trade with others. The main reason to do so nowadays is for collective purposes and completing the national dex (hah...)
 

osaka35

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I would argue that the whole "buy two versions" holds more weight back before GTS was introduced in the Gen IV games. Not everyone has a friend with the opposite copy of the game, let alone if they would co-operate with trading certain 'mons like starters with you. Buying both versions guarantees that you control which Pokemon you need to trade to one another in order to get what you need, or even fill out the Pokedex.

Then Gen IV came out and did away with link cables and providing access to global servers, making it easier than ever to trade with others. The main reason to do so nowadays is for collective purposes and completing the national dex (hah...)
well, sword and shield don't have GTS, which is annoying some people. I don't mind, never used it previously.except to help folk out. They have surprise trade and local trade for sword/shield.
 

Pipistrele

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This is why we can't have nice things.
People just buy shit based on branding, instead of actual quality of the product.

You herd of Wooloos.

As for those people that are giving us crap 'cus we're criticizing the games for being shit, it's 'cus we care.

It is utterly disturbing that this happen to be honest...so many delusional, ignorant or whales of fanatics.

To be honest, if "shaming people for enjoying the game and holding them responsible for quality of the franchise" is the kind of attitude you want to weaponize, then I hope that the next Pokemon game will piss you off even more - just so you leave the fandom in frustration and stop acting like assholes towards others for your own unrealized expectations :grog:
 
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Foxi4

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Honestly SUMO was a worse game from what I have seen and people complained less. This fan base is only interested in pokeman.
I disagree. SUMO was a fully functional game that took full advantage of the hardware it was developed for. Some design choices were a little bit out there, but it didn't come across as lacking. In comparison Sword and Shield looks like a 3DS up-port with very sub-par models, low resolution textures and a poorly realised overworld. Compare what Nintendo *can* do with games like BOTW or Odyssey with what they did in Sword/Shield and tell me that the title ups the ante for the series in any way. Previous titles on the handheld platforms always had a sense of progression, Sword and Shield lacks that. It feels like a game that was made in a spaghetti factory - cut to size and put in a can for the consumer to gorge on, as opposed to truly enjoy. To be fair though, I haven't spent enough time to have a solid opinion on it, it just looks and feels underdeveloped, lots of wasted potential despite all the cuts that were supposed to give them more time.

75580491_2785170408187605_3749590905644908544_n.jpg
 

Justinde75

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Look the issue is that its Pokemon. The sales dont reflect the quality of the games because its something people are used to buying. Most people buy a nintendo console for the first party exclusives like Zelda, Mario and Pokemon. When people buy a nintendo console they just naturally going to buy one of those games.

People trust the Brand because of nostalgia and past titles that had more features and quality. The Games heavily declined in quality after Black and White 2. They focused on keeping a budget or making a new engine. They probably used up their budget on the engine and then just tried to cut corners. They made a new engine for X&Y and then for Sun and Moon. Pokemon games basically have no post game content and just arent worth the price in my opinion. The only post game content there really is are the GTS (which they removed in sword and shield) and battling others.
 
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Flame

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I want to be the very best, check
Like no one ever was. check
To catch them is my real test,check
To train them is my cause! check

(I will travel across the land, check
Searching far and wide. check
Each Pokemon to understand check
The power that's inside!) check

Pokemon! check
Gotta catch em' all! .... :angry:
 

Xzi

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I feel like too many people are just expecting Pokemon to suddenly become something it isn't. It's not Dark Souls. It's not Persona. It's a simple series with a simple gameplay loop, targeted at children. It's still a fun game for adults, but only if you go into it understanding it's meant to be a laid back and relaxing experience. Best to use Pokemon as a palette cleanser for whatever 'hardcore' game you might also be playing at the time. I liken it to the Katamari series in that way.

In the meantime, nobody is prevented from creating spiritual successors to Pokemon which might tick off parts of peoples' wishlist for the series. What I've played of both the Monster Crown and TemTem alphas are great in their own right.
 
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dimmidice

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I feel like too many people are just expecting Pokemon to suddenly become something it isn't. It's not Dark Souls. It's not Persona. It's a simple series with a simple gameplay loop, targeted at children. It's still a fun game for adults, but only if you go into it understanding it's meant to be a laid back and relaxing experience. Best to use Pokemon as a palette cleanser for whatever 'hardcore' game you might also be playing at the time. I liken it to the Katamari series in that way.

In the meantime, nobody is prevented from creating spiritual successors to Pokemon which might tick off parts of peoples' wishlist for the series. What I've played of both the Monster Crown and TemTem alphas are great in their own right.
Nobody's asking for it to be dark souls, nobody's asking for it to be persona. People want it to actually improve every generation. Simple games can improve.
 

smilodon

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I feel like too many people are just expecting Pokemon to suddenly become something it isn't. It's not Dark Souls. It's not Persona. It's a simple series with a simple gameplay loop, targeted at children. It's still a fun game for adults, but only if you go into it understanding it's meant to be a laid back and relaxing experience. Best to use Pokemon as a palette cleanser for whatever 'hardcore' game you might also be playing at the time. I liken it to the Katamari series in that way.

In the meantime, nobody is prevented from creating spiritual successors to Pokemon which might tick off parts of peoples' wishlist for the series. What I've played of both the Monster Crown and TemTem alphas are great in their own right.

Children aren't stupid tho, old pokémon games were challenging enough for everybody. Newer games are remarkably easier to the point where you just can't lose anymore.
But I agree on that point, romhacks are great. They feel like actual games instead of a glorified marketing ploy.
 

pedro702

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I disagree. SUMO was a fully functional game that took full advantage of the hardware it was developed for. Some design choices were a little bit out there, but it didn't come across as lacking. In comparison Sword and Shield looks like a 3DS up-port with very sub-par models, low resolution textures and a poorly realised overworld. Compare what Nintendo *can* do with games like BOTW or Odyssey with what they did in Sword/Shield and tell me that the title ups the ante for the series in any way. Previous titles on the handheld platforms always had a sense of progression, Sword and Shield lacks that. It feels like a game that was made in a spaghetti factory - cut to size and put in a can for the consumer to gorge on, as opposed to truly enjoy. To be fair though, I haven't spent enough time to have a solid opinion on it, it just looks and feels underdeveloped, lots of wasted potential despite all the cuts that were supposed to give them more time.

View attachment 187363
so for you a game is good becuase its graphics are okay for the hardware and its funcional? lol S/m are the worst mainline pokemon games by far, a game isnt better because it has better graphics, the gameplay choices make or break it, sun moon were the worst ones.

see critical reviews and even peoples reviews and it will show you sun/moon has the lowest in the entire series.


TBH the last great pokemon game for me was X/Y, they were great imo, sun moon was crap, i couldnt even force myself to finish ultra moon(the first ever pokemon game i never finished) because it was so boring , jesus every 5 steps there was an npc to talk to you saying obious things and they gave you zero fredom, sure sword and shield do that but less atleast thank god.

IMO soul silver/heartgold are hands down the best pokemon games ever, they improved on everything over the best game generation ever too.
 
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Xzi

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Nobody's asking for it to be dark souls, nobody's asking for it to be persona. People want it to actually improve every generation. Simple games can improve.
Sure, but to play devil's advocate, I feel like most of the things that people are suggesting would improve it would also chip away at that simplicity in one way or another. Regardless of how they're viewed, Game Freak is just trying to avoid fixing what isn't broken. Big innovative changes are reserved for all of Nintendo's other series.
 
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Foxi4

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so for you a game is good becuase its graphics are okay for the hardware and its funcional? lol S/m are the worst mainline pokemon games by far, a game isnt better because it has better graphics, the gameplay choices make or break it, sun moon were the worst ones.

see critical reviews and even peoples reviews and it will show you sun/moon has the lowest in the entire series.


TBH the last great pokemon game for me was X/Y, they were great imo, sun moon was crap, i couldnt even force myself to finish ultra moon(the first ever pokemon game i never finished) because it was so boring , jesus every 5 steps there was an npc to talk to you saying obious things and they gave you zero fredom, sure sword and shield do that but less atleast thank god.

IMO soul silver/heartgold are hands down the best pokemon games ever, they improved on everything over the best game generation ever too.
X/Y was excellent. Graphics aren't everything, but developers should necessarily push the envelope with every installment, particularly when they have the opportunity to develop for a brand new and significantly stronger platform. I *expect* a Switch game to look and play like its contemporaries, not like a last gen title from a portable. They had a lot of firepower to work with and they've delivered a mess, that's all there is to it. I'm not interested in what shill critics have to say - I have two eyeballs and I can see the product myself, it is below par compared to other games by Nintendo, and that's a fact.
 

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X/Y was excellent. Graphics aren't everything, but developers should necessarily push the envelope with every installment, particularly when they have the opportunity to develop for a brand new and significantly stronger platform. I *expect* a Switch game to look and play like its contemporaries, not like a last gen title from a portable. They had a lot of firepower to work with and they've delivered a mess, that's all there is to it. I'm not interested in what shill critics have to say - I have two eyeballs and I can see the product myself, it is below par compared to other games by Nintendo, and that's a fact.
do recall now theree is pokemons running around on the overworld, which probably took out alot of recources from them, considering they arent good at otimizing any game, not a single pokemon game was ever lag free and they are turn based games.

so yeah they probably scalled graphics down to make less lag when overworld pokemons appear, i still wait for the day that we will get a colosseum grpic style game again, colosseum and XD are the best spin off pokemon games ever imo, and to this day the best graphics on any pokemon game that isnt pokken lol.
 

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do recall now theree is pokemons running around on the overworld, which probably took out alot of recources from them, considering they arent good at otimizing any game, not a single pokemon game was ever lag free and they are turn based games.

so yeah they probably scalled graphics down to make less lag when overworld pokemons appear, i still wait for the day that we will get a colosseum grpic style game again, colosseum and XD are the best spin off pokemon games ever imo, and to this day the best graphics on any pokemon game that isnt pokken lol.
Oh, is that what you think? Then they should be fired. I'm not even joking, that's unacceptable. If the studio is incapable of coding a game that doesn't look like it had vaseline smeared all over it or cram more than 3 NPC's onto the screen at a time, with the use of whole 5 polygons and a simple pathfinding routine, they're objectively incompetent. I'm obviously exaggerating to make a point, but that's not an excuse, you can't possibly believe that. "Pokemon walking around" is *not* a big deal on modern hardware, we see triple-A titles with hundreds of independent NPC's on-screen, and you're telling me that Gamefreak just *had* to render trees like they're made out of cardboard? No. This is just the visual side of the game, there are gameplay shortcomings to discuss as well - the overworld in general is nothing like what you'd expect from a "next gen Pokemon game", it's simplistic to the extreme. As I said before, wasted opportunities all around. I'd be *happy* with the roster getting cuts *if* the time savings were poured into refining the technology, but when the final product is on par with mobile games I have to question the competence of the studio.
 

pedro702

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Oh, is that what you think? Then they should be fired. I'm not even joking, that's unacceptable. If the studio is incapable of coding a game that doesn't look like it had vaseline smeared all over it or cram more than 3 NPC's onto the screen at a time, with the use of whole 5 polygons and a simple pathfinding routine, they're objectively incompetent. I'm obviously exaggerating to make a point, but that's not an excuse, you can't possibly believe that. "Pokemon walking around" is *not* a big deal on modern hardware, we see triple-A titles with hundreds of independent NPC's on-screen, and you're telling me that Gamefreak just *had* to render trees like they're made out of cardboard? No. This is just the visual side of the game, there are gameplay shortcomings to discuss as well - the overworld in general is nothing like what you'd expect from a "next gen Pokemon game", it's simplistic to the extreme. As I said before, wasted opportunities all around. I'd be *happy* with the roster getting cuts *if* the time savings were poured into refining the technology, but when the final product is on par with mobile games I have to question the competence of the studio.
lets hope they learned this and make the next game using this engine much better, what i dislike this engine and even in sun moon, is now trainers dont walk to you to challenge, imo that was a stapple, trainer saw you, walked to you and challenged you, now they just stay in place and bam your challenged :S, this died on sun and moon, so yeah X,Y(oras by extense due to same engine) were the last pokemon games to have everything to me, the felling of mainline pokemon game, all the mechanics and wahtnot, sun and moon became the downfall, where an npc on every corner saying go to the nest corner ...
 

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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.

I'm currently in Japan on a holiday.
I spoke to a local here and she said if it wasn't for her pre-orders (both sword and shield), she would have dropped the games the moment the cut dex was announced and the bugs would have been found out (climbing and the trainer disappearing during fights).
She said all her friends were pissed of at GF and she would be very hesitant at future titles.

So no.
This data is skewed imo.
 
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It's fun, but it definitely still has a lot of issues with pop in, poor animations, earrapey music, poor Pokemon scaling, awkward artificial barriers and glorifying smartphones.


Ladders turn you into DIO.
Multiple bridge battles, only one actually uses the bridge arena.


Somehow they can recycle gen 1-5 models from this mid 2012 3DS/iOS app, but not the animations.
I remember this app getting me hyped for the future of Pokemon on 3DS, but then X/Y happened.

There's also a Pikachu shirt with an Eevee pattern and an Eevee shirt with a Pikachu pattern which passed QA
 
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jesus96

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This is legitimately sad tbh,no offense but these lazy Fu****** didn't deserve this,even t
3ds games look better and they where way less powerful systems,this is just laziness but sadly everyone and even pokefanboys who hated everything about this knew that this was going to happen
 

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