OCT. 17, 2013 • In the 48 hours after their Oct. 12 launch Pokemon X and Pokemon Y sold more than 4 million units worldwide. The two 3DS titles mark the first time Nintendo Co. Ltd. has launched a pair of Pokemon titles simultaneously across the world. The previous two installments in the series, Pokemon White 2 and Pokemon Black 2, sold 1.6 million units in Japan after 48 hours in June 2012.  Similar unit sales numbers on the titles were not made available for the North American and European releases in October of that year. Using historical data as a guide, Nintendo says Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are the fastest-selling Nintendo 3DS games of all time and are tracking ahead of Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 by more than 70%. The 2012 titles amassed 7.63 million units sold globally between June 2012 and January 2013.

Impact: In a world of free games, big franchises are doing better than ever.  Last month, GTA V moved around 15 million units after three days. So 4 million split between two Pokemon titles doesn’t seem as impressive as it would in a different year. What is impressive is that there is still a lot of life left in the Pokemon franchise that saw its start in 1996 on the Game Boy. Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are also proof that Nintendo can still garner impressive unit numbers on portable platforms. We only wish that Sony could deliver similarly strong franchises on the PS Vita. Mobile games might be all the rage but when you consider these Pokemon games command an MSRP of $39.99 it would be ill-advised to write off handheld platforms for some time to come. The dedicated portable game category, led by the 3DS, is forecasted to generate over $4 billion in revenue for 2013. The big question is whether Pokemon X and Pokemon Y sales will have a positive effect on 2DS and 3DS hardware sales this fall.

Update NOV. 14, 2013: Nintendo announced that North American 3DS and 2DS sales during the month of October were 452,000, about double the number sold in September. With more than 1.7 million units of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y sold during the month in the U.S., it is obvious that the titles drove a huge boost in hardware sales.