US: Pokémon GO boosts 3DS sales (inc. games), MH Generations best-selling title in July
Yesterday, Nintendo sent a press release to parade a bit with the sales results for July 2016 in the Unites States. First, the company confirmed that the Nintendo 3DS was indeed the best-selling platform in the the country during that month. Unfortunately, we’re not given any actual sales data in units, which is definitely a pity.
Nintendo does mention that sales jumped by almost 80% compared to July 2015: a pretty impressive increase, for an aging system like the Nintendo 3DS.
Nintendo explains that the good performance of the Nintendo 3DS is due to three things:
- the launch of Monster Hunter Generations, which did pretty well. In fact, it was the best-selling game on any platform in July 2016 (technically, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Minecraft sold more, but those are multiplatform titles);
- continued momentum following the price drop of the Nintendo 2DS. This very affordable model, launched in 2013, has now sold over 2 million units since launch in the United States;
- Pokémon GO.
Talking of Pokémon GO, it boosted sales of Pokémon games (just like it did in the UK, in Italy, in Japan, and most likely in many other countries):
- Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire: +80% compared to July 2015. Pokémon Omega Ruby landed at #8, and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire landed at #10;
- Pokémon X and Y: +200% compared to July 2015. The two versions were the #16 and #22 best-selling titles in July 2016.
Software-wise, Nintendo platforms were pretty successful with a total of 5 games in the Top 11. For example, Minecraft: Wii U Edition was the 6th best-selling title, and Kirby: Planet Robobot landed at #11 (though sales were “a lot weaker than expected“).
Source: Nintendo PR
