Nintendo Makes History with Pokemon Sun & Moon Pre-orders

Looks like Pokemon Go is nearing its final days of widespread popularity. Not because of its continued lackluster gameplay and other issues too long to mention here, but because of the impending release of the seventh-gen Pokemon games: Sun and Moon. Through a number of gameplay videos shown by Nintendo during the last few months, we've learned that the game will feel very different from previous generations. For one, the traditional Gyms won't be around anymore, and in their place are Island Challenges.

However, the significant gameplay changes, along with the challenge presented by Pokemon Go, did little to negatively affect the seventh-gen games. In fact, it's the other way around - they've become more popular than before.

As reported by Polygon, Nintendo has announced that Pokemon Sun and Moon are now the company's best pre-selling games of all time. Which means a lot of people have already punched-in their pre-orders way ahead of its November 18 release. The company held back on releasing any data that backs up the claim, though, only stating that the numbers are a "historic milestone".

Furthermore, the Pokemon Sun and Moon demo now holds the record as the most downloaded 3DS game demo ever, which was detailed by Nintendo in an investors' presentation. The first week alone generated more than 3 million downloads at the Nintendo eShop. The Pokemon franchise is no doubt one of the powerhouses in the video games industry, so this shouldn't really be shocking news. But you gotta admit, those are quite eye-popping numbers.

While we can't be sure whether Pokemon Go had a hand in this historic achievement for Nintendo, at least there's no doubt that the augmented reality mobile game introduced the franchise to even more audiences. Who knows, perhaps some of the casual and bandwagon players that populated Pokemon Go during the height of its popularity actually took interest in the main games.

If it did, then Nintendo better send flowers and thank you letters to Niantic. They can also suggest an obituary for Pokemon Go. Because based on these recent developments, Pokemon Sun and Moon are primed to be megahits. Which may spell the end for Pokemon Go.