News – Pokémon Ports Prove Retro Still Sells

Retro gaming is far from dead. It’s something I say a lot here on Rings & Coins, and if you want any proof to back up that claim, then look no further than the recent sales of Pokémon on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.

You see, in just over two months since their re-release which coincided with Pokémon’s 20th Anniversary, Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Green and Pokémon Yellow have clocked up over 1.5 million downloads worldwide. And that’s with barely a change to the original release.

This information comes thanks to Nintendo’s fiscal presentation for the previous year, with Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima further revealing that whilst this figure represents worldwide sales, American sales have been particularly strong:

More than half of these downloads came from the American market. Since the start of the calendar year, Pokémon has been the subject of much attention in America, and sales are showing a favourable trend.

What’s more, these strong sales have meant that despite all of the brand new modern releases, the 1996 retro classics even made their way into the 2015-2016 fiscal year top download charts. An extremely impressive achievement given that this chart ended on March 31st.

However, whilst the fiscal year has passed, that doesn’t mean Pokémon’s anniversary has. Re-releasing the original Pokémon games was actually just the beginning of Nintendo’s plans for the iconic franchise’s 20th anniversary.

Following on from this, Nintendo has continued the celebration by offering various legendary Pokémon, and re-releasing classic Pokémon Trading Cards to name but a few things. That’s not all though, as this will all be topped off at the end of the year with two brand new Pokémon games in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.

Either way this is a triumph for retro gaming all round, and for Pokémaniac’s like myself. And if you’re a Pokémaniac too, then make sure to watch out for more coverage surrounding Pokémon’s highly successful 20th anniversary throughout the year here at Rings & Coins, especially when it comes to Pokémon Sun & Moon’s release this Winter.