Reuters is reporting that Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl for the Nintendo DS is expected to be in top selling games of 2007. All this based on pre-sales numbers in the US in excess of 500,000.

"The new games will hit U.S. store shelves on April 22. Early orders are more than twice as strong as the presale numbers for Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen, which launched in 2004 and went on to sell more than 3.4 million units combined in North America."

I don't know what's more amazing, that a handheld title can have so many pre-sales or that Pokemon is still this popular. Titles like Gears of War garner all sorts of attention, but there is an aspect of gaming that Nintendo really seems to have down pat.

Jesus Christ, that's a lot of Pokemon! Perhaps its got a wide audience for such sales (kids + hardcore fans + anyone with a DS = lots people). Thats the only way I could see this.

I didn't think anyone still remembered Pokemon.

Oh, Maw! Pokemon just keeps going and going and......

Kids love it, and parents love it because it's "safe" and accepted, and, well, you have to admit that Pikachu is pretty cute...