by CVXFREAK
Posted 07-07-2003

One thing that has influenced children entertainment is definitely Pokemon. Since it's introduction to the shores of the U.S. in late 1998, it grew to become a mega popular series on several fronts, from gaming, to card collecting and toys, to having a company dedicated to itself. 

In September 2002, I had a conversation with a few people. They all told me that Pokemon was dead. They told me that it was gone, no one liked it anymore and that basically any game that came out from there on out would not be a success. I responded telling them they were basically wrong, and that Pokemon is still alive and kicking. 

Cue to November 21, 2002, in Japan. That was the release date for the Japanese versions of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire for the GBA. Famitsu, a Japanese magazine, covered sales figures for the two games' first three days of availability in the market. 1,245,003 copies were sold combined from 11/21-11/24. At the end of 2002, they went on to sell 3,197,762. One can believe that the games each sold 1.60 Million at that time. Despite being available only 40 days in the year, they beat out every other Japanese release that year to be the number one selling games. Even if they weren't combined, Sapphire would be #1 and Ruby would be #2. The third place game was a PS2 World Cup soccer game that was released around 6 months earlier, and the World Cup was in Japan that year. Go figure. 

OK, true, Pokemon Gold and Silver's Japanese release was much stronger than Ruby and Sapphires'. 1,425,768 copies of Gold and Silver were sold in ONE DAY in Japan. A larger amount were sold in less time. But there is a catch. Gold and Silver were compatible with older GameBoys and were also on sale for just under 3,000 Yen in Japan. By comparison, Ruby/Sapphire were ONLY GameBoy Advance titles and were more expensive at 4800 Yen. So, in a way, some folks would need a new GameBoy or would need to pay more for Pokemon. So some held off. As for sales figures in 2003, Pokemon has never dropped below #20 on the charts the entire Japanese year. Total lifetime sales of Ruby/Sapphire in Japan until the start of June 2003 are 4,494,174. Not bad for a dead franchise. 

So, is Pokemon dead in Japan? Not really, so it seems. One might say "but we're in America." Alright, then. 

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire debut in the U.S. in March 2003, just before the release of the GameBoy Advance SP. Pokemon Ruby took the lead that month in second place, with 652,595 sold (second only to Zelda: Wind Waker, of all games). Sapphire took third with 585,098. By comparison, Yu-Gi-Oh: Dungeon Dice Monsters only sold 85,000 that month. April, Ruby sold 240,616 and Sapphire sold 226,684. May rolled around, and Ruby sold 118,493 and Sapphire sold 112,114. That's a total of 1,011,704 Ruby copies sold in the U.S. That's 923,896 for Sapphire. That's 1,935,600 combined. My source for U.S. sales is the NPD Group. Between Japan and America, that's 6,429,774 worldwide (add another 20,000 for sales in Australia between the two games). 

Pokemon is not dead, not in the U.S. and Japan. The Pokemon movies might be dead, but then again, they hardly advertised it or put it in enough theatres. There is no extensive data on the amount of packs of cards sold, either. Basically, all it comes down to in terms of the data we have are the games. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were a success in the U.S. and Japan. 

So, concluding, if anyone says Pokemon's dead, flash them those sales figures above. Then laugh at them.