The story broke yesterday, but now Nintendo has a word to say about it.

Pre-orders for the upcoming Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl video games for the portable Nintendo DS™ have topped one half million in the United States, and Nintendo is advising fans to brace themselves for the next wave of Poké-mania. Based on the huge pre-sales for Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, Nintendo expects them to be among the top-selling games for all of 2007.

With four days to go until they arrive, more than 533,000 pre-orders have been taken for Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl. Already these games have more than doubled the pre-sale numbers of Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, which launched in 2004. Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen went on to sell more than 3.4 million combined in North America.

Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl have consistently ranked among the top-selling video game products on Amazon.com, and there are still four days until launch.

Pokémon became a nationwide hit the instant it arrived in the United States in 1998. Now a new wave of Pokémon excitement is on its way, complete with more than 100 new Pokémon characters, the ability for players to battle wirelessly on Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection and voice-chat abilities, which act like a cell phone but with connection among friends only.

The Official Nintendo Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Player's Guide also will be available at retail on April 22. For more information about the games, visit www.Pokemon-Games.com

Nintendo press room