Pokmon Black Version and White Version (?????????????&???? Poketto Monsuta Burakk u & Howaito?

, "Pocket Monsters: Black & White") are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They are the first installments in the fifth generation of the Pokmon series of role-playing games. [6] First released in Japan on September 18, 2010, they were later released in E urope on March 4, 2011, in North America on March 6, 2011, and Australia on Marc h 10, 2011. Similar to previous installments of the series, the two games follow the journey of a young Pokmon trainer through the region of Unova, as they train Pokmon used to compete against other trainers, while thwarting the schemes of the criminal o rganization Team Plasma. Black and White introduced over 150 new Pokmon to the fr anchise, as well as many new features, including a seasonal cycle,rotation battl es, fully animated Pokmon sprites and triple battles. Both titles are independent of each other, but feature largely the same plot, and while both can be played separately, trading Pokmon between both of the games is necessary in order to com plete the games' Pokdex. Upon their release, Black and White received positive reviews; critics praised t he advancements in gameplay, as well as several of the new Pokmon introduced. Rev iews, however, were divided on some of the character designs, and some critics f elt that the games did not innovate as much as expected. Nevertheless, the games were commercial successes; prior to the games' Japanese release, Black and Whit e sold one million consumer pre-orders and sold five million copies as of Januar y 2011, making it one of the best selling DS games to date. As of March 2013, th e games' combined sales have reached 15.42 million, putting the titles amongst t he best selling games for the Nintendo DS, but still being outsold by their pred ecessors, Diamond and Pearl.[7] Sequels to Pokmon Black and White, named Pokmon Bl ack 2 and White 2, were released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in June 2012, with October releases in North America, Europe, and Australia. Gameplay Main article: Gameplay of Pokmon Pokmon Black and White are role-playing video games with adventure elements, pres ented in a third-person, overhead perspective. There are three basic screens: an overworld, in which the player navigates the main character; a battle screen; a nd the menu, in which the player configures their party, items, or gameplay sett ings. The player begins the game with a single Pokmon, and is able to capture mor e using Pok Balls. When the player encounters a wild Pokmon or is challenged by a trainer to a battl e, the screen switches to a turn-based battle screen where the Pokmon fight. Duri ng battle, the player may fight, use an item, switch the active Pokmon, or flee. However, the player is not permitted to flee a battle against another trainer. A ll Pokmon have Health Points (HP); when a Pokmon's HP is reduced to zero, it faint s until it is revived. If an opposing Pokmon faints, then all of the player's Pokm on who participated in defeating it receive experience points. After accumulatin g enough experience points a Pokmon may level up. A Pokmon's level affects its bat tle statistics, and some Pokmon will evolve upon reaching a certain level. New features The graphics were further improved from previous games and include more cutscene s. When talking to people, the dialog box has been changed to speech balloons, w hich appear over other characters' heads, allowing more than one character to sp eak at once. In addition to this aesthetic change, Japanese players are given th e option to switch to having kanji appear on screen, rather than just hiragana a nd katakana.[8] During battles, the sprites of the Pokmon are fully animated and the camera changes position to highlight specific parts of the battle.

In addition to the day and night cycle first introduced in the Gold and Silver g ames, Black and White introduces a seasonal cycle, with the seasons advancing ev ery month, cycling every four, rather than being linked to the actual calendar. Outside areas appear differently depending on the season, such as changing of le aves in autumn or snow on the ground in winter. Certain areas are only accessibl e during certain seasons, and different Pokmon can be found in the wild in winter where others are encountered in the other seasons.[9] In addition to these feat ures, the Pokmon Deerling and Sawsbuck were designed to change their physical app earance along with the seasons of the game.[10][11] There are two new battle mechanics in Black and White: Triple Battles[12] and Ro tation Battles.[13] In Triple Battles, both teams must send out three Pokmon at o nce. The Pokmon that can be targeted by any specific attack is dependent on the p osition of the Pokmon in the line up; Pokmon on the left or right sides can only t arget the Pokmon directly opposite of them and the two Pokmon in the center positi on on both sides, while Pokmon in the center can target all Pokmon in the field. P ositions can be changed, but this uses up the player's turn. In Rotation Battles , both sides send out three Pokmon at once, again, but instead of a three-on-thre e match as seen in Triple Battles, it is a one-on-one match where the Pokmon in t he front can be switched with either of the two other Pokmon sent out without usi ng up a turn. Depending on the game version, one of these two new battle types w ill be found in greater quantity than the other, with Black having more Rotation Battles than Triple Battles, and vice versa in White. Related introductions are the Combination Moves; the starter Pokmon from any game can be taught one of the three moves that can be used in combination with each other to produce more pow erful attacks. Another battle mechanic is found in the wild, where differently c olored and styled tall grass enable Double Battles against wild Pokmon.[14] A new Pokmon capture mechanic was also introduced in these games, referred to as "phenomena" in supplementary materials. Occasionally, the player can find rustli ng patches of grass and rippling water. If the player enters the tile that featu red the phenomenon (or uses the fishing rod on the tile), they can encounter eit her a rare Pokmon, a Pokmon more common in the other game version, or the highest evolutionary form of a Pokmon that can normally be found in the area. This method is the only way to capture Pokmon such as Audino, Emolga, and Alomomola. In addi tion to these, dust clouds in caves and the shadows of flying Pokmon on certain b ridges can also be entered to either find a rare item or encounter Drilbur, Exca drill, Ducklett, or Swanna, none of which can be found in the wild otherwise. In addition to the standard battling and Gym challenges, the player can compete in Pokmon Musicals,[15] a side-game similar to the Pokmon Contests of previous gam es; the Battle Subway,[16] similar to the Battle Towers and Battle Frontiers of previous games; and on the Royal Unova,[Note 1] a cruise ship that the player ca n ride daily and fight various trainers aboard to win otherwise rare items.[17] Connectivity to other devices The C-Gear (C?? Shi Gia?) is a new mechanic that replaces the Poktech on the Nint endo DS's second screen. It allows the player to control the various wireless ca pabilities of Black and White. These include connecting to other players through infrared communication (battling, trading, friend codes, and the "Feeling Check " function), wireless communications with friends in the Xtranciever[Note 2] vid eo chat[18] or access to the Entralink to transfer content from the Pokmon Dream World, connecting to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to sync with the Pokmon Global Link servers, and the new Pass By mode which allows the game to communicate wit h other games through infrared (IR) when not being played. The Feeling Check (?????????? Firingu Chekku?) function tests the compatibility between two players, awarding them with one of two items depending on the level of compatibility.[19] The Pass By feature is another side game in which the play er answers various survey questions, and depending on how many other games are i

nteracted with, the players receive an item. Another new feature is Random Match up, where the player can battle a random other player.[20] When playing against other players online or in IR battles, a new mechanic called the Wonder Launcher [Note 3] allows for items to be used in battle to heal or improve the status of the players' Pokmon.[21] To transfer Pokmon from the older games, Pokmon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGol d, and SoulSilver versions to the new games, Black and White, two features have been placed in Black and White. For normal transfer, the Pok Transfer[Note 4] fea ture is available after completion of the main storyline. Unlike the Pal Park fe ature that was in the previous games, the Pok Transfer is a mini-game in which af ter six Pokmon are transferred, the player uses the touch screen to launch Pok Bal ls at the transferred Pokmon which are moving about on the top screen to catch th em within a time limit.[22] Another feature called the Relocator[Note 5] is used to transfer the Pokmon given away in promotions for the Pokmon: Zoroark: Master o f Illusions film so the player can activate the special events to obtain the rar e Pokmon Zorua and Zoroark. Unlike the Pok Transfer, this function is available be fore the main game is completed. Unique to Black and White is the Pokmon Dream World,[23] a game mechanic that is dependent on the official Pokmon Global Link website. In this, the player can bef riend Pokmon not normally obtainable in gameplay with unique abilities, which are later captured in an area known as the Entralink.[Note 6] This is done after sy ncing the game back with the Dream World, in a mechanic similar to the Pokwalker used in HeartGold and SoulSilver. The player can also maintain a house in the Dr eam World that other players can visit as well as grow berries. In addition to a llowing players access to Pokmon acquired in the Dream World, the Entralink also enables players to interact with each other and perform side games which award p oints that can be traded for "powers" that improve normal gameplay, such as incr easing experience, improving capture rate, or lowering prices of items in Pok Mar ts. Plot Black and White are set in the Unova region, a continental mass located far away from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh.[24] Unlike the previous regions which were based on locations in Japan, Unova is modeled after New York City,[25][26] an i dea developed by game director Junichi Masuda when he visited the city for the l aunch of Diamond and Pearl.[27] One particular example of this is Castelia City, which served as the region's central metropolis and had such inspirations as it s "Brooklyn Bridge-style suspension bridge" and its "huge skyscrapers". Masuda a lso wanted to convey a "feeling of communities" in Castelia's streets.[27] Unova is host to large urban areas, a harbor, an airport, an amusement park, several bridges, and several mountain ranges. In addition to a diversity of new landscap es, the Unova region is also home to a diversity of people who vary in skin tone and occupation. The region's Japanese name "Isshu" (?????) is derived from the Japanese words tashu (???, meaning "many kinds") and isshu (???, meaning "one ki nd"); the many kinds of people and Pokmon seen up close look like only one kind o f life from afar.[26] Story Like previous Pokmon games, Black and White both follow a linear storyline; the m ain events occur in a fixed order. The protagonist of Pokmon Black and White is a teenager who sets out on a journey through Unova to become the Pokmon master. At the beginning of the games, the player chooses either Snivy, Tepig, or Oshawott as their starter Pokmon as a gift from Professor Juniper. The protagonist's frie nds, Cheren and Bianca, are also rival Pokmon Trainers who occasionally battle th e player. The player's primary goal is to obtain the eight Gym Badges of Unova a nd ultimately challenge the Elite Four of the Pokmon League, and its Champion, to win the game.

In addition to the standard gameplay, the player will also have to defeat the ga mes' main antagonist force, Team Plasma, a Knights Templar-esque group who claim s that Pokmon are oppressed by mankind and seeks for a means to liberate them.[28 ] Team Plasma is led by "N", a young man who was brought up alongside Pokmon and sees them as friends rather than tools for sport.[29] Throughout the game, the p layer has some encounters with N, who claims that by capturing one of the legend ary Dragon Pokmon of Unova and defeating the Pokmon Champion Alder, he will be rec ognized as Unova's hero and will be able to convince the humans to part with the ir Pokmon. Depending on the game version, N will capture the Deep Black Pokmon Zek rom in Black[30] or the Vast White Pokmon Reshiram in White.[31] After the player defeats the Elite Four and enters the Champion's chamber, he or she finds that N has defeated Alder and has become the newest Pokmon Champion. Soon after, he su mmons a large castle that surrounds the Pokmon League, challenging the player to find him to take part in one final battle. When the player finally reaches him, Reshiram in Black or Zekrom in White appears before the player, and the player m ust capture the legendary Pokmon before challenging N. After his defeat, N lament s the possibility that his ideals are mistaken, as Ghetsis intrudes and angrily reveals that his true intentions were to use N to ensure that he would be the on ly human left with control over Pokmon and use them to rule the world. In his rag e, Ghetsis challenges the player to battle. After Ghetsis's defeat, he is arrest ed, allowing Alder to resume his position as the Pokmon Champion of the Unova reg ion. N then thanks the player for helping realize his mistake about the nature o f the relationship between people and their Pokmon before leaving the castle on h is captured Dragon Pokmon to a far-off land.[29] After Team Plasma's defeat, Looker arrives in Unova and tasks the player with fi nding the remaining Sages of Team Plasma, so they can be brought to justice. The player can also challenge the Elite Four once again, and challenge Alder, ultim ately becoming the Unova region's new Pokmon Champion. The player also gains acce ss to the eastern portion of Unova, which contains Pokmon from the previous games in the series, as well as access to an area unique to each game version: the ul tra-metropolitan Black City, home to powerful Pokmon trainers; and the White Fore st, home to humans and Pokmon living in harmony. Cynthia, a former Champion of th e Sinnoh region, is also found in this area of the game and can be challenged. A non-player character named after Shigeki Morimoto, a Game Freak programmer, cre ature designer, and the director of the HeartGold and SoulSilver games, can also be found and battled in the game. Development On January 29, 2010, the Pokmon Company announced that a new game was in developm ent for the Nintendo DS to be released later that year.[32][33] Director Junichi Masuda stated that several aspects of the series were being revamped for the ne w generation.[34] On April 9, 2010, the Japanese website updated with the titles of the versions as Pokmon Black and White, and announced a Q3 2010 release date. [35] The games feature an improved visual style from other Pokmon games, with an increased use of 3D computer graphics than any other of the handheld series. It also has a special feature that allows the user to upload their saved game to th e Internet, allowing them to do certain things on an official website.[36][37] On August 3, 2010, Masuda announced on his blog that the Black and White game ve rsions will initially only contain brand-new Pokmon to evoke a feeling of it bein g a brand-new game, like when the original Pokmon games were first released.[38] In all of the games following the first generation, there were a series of new P okmon introduced interspersed with Pokmon from the previous generations. For examp le, Pikachu was introduced in Red and Green, and was obtainable in Blue, Yellow, and all subsequent main series games; however, Pikachu will not be obtainable i n Black and White from the start of the game. It was later confirmed that Black and White are region locked on the Nintendo DSi.[39] Game director Junichi Masuda stated that to keep the games fresh, he looks at ev ery previous element to decide what to adapt to the new game, stating "people ma

y not like what they like in the past, trend wise". He explained the new battle styles, stating that while triple battles take more strategy, rotation battles t ake more luck to win.[40] Masuda stated that their goal when making the games wa s to make it fun for new players, but they also wanted to get players who have n ot played the series in a while to come back. He said that it was hard to find t hat balance to satisfy both kinds of players. For the new players, there is good explanation in how to play, while for old players, they incorporated the C-Gear , which makes the ability to trade and battle easier. When asked about the decis ion to introduce over 150 new species of Pokmon, Masuda stated that they did this so old players would not be able to know what is a good Pokmon to use, and it wo uld level the playing ground for new players.[41] Promotion and release Pokmon Black and White were released in Japan on September 18, 2010,[1] in Europe on March 4, 2011, and in North America on March 6, 2011. The Australian release was on March 10, 2011.[2][3] Japanese release A silhouette of a new Pokmon was shown by Junichi Masuda on the February 7, 2010 episode of Pokmon Sunday, stated to be in the film for the summer and to be ident ified in a future episode on February 21.[42] This new character would also be f eatured in the March 2010 issue of CoroCoro Comic available on February 15, and is the start of the fifth generation of the Pokmon franchise. Since then, the cha racter has been named "Zoroark", and it evolves from a character named "Zorua". Both were featured in the film Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl The Movie: Phanto m Ruler: Zoroark.[43][44] For pre-order ticket holders, an alternate-colored Rai kou, Entei, or Suicune was available for transfer to their Diamond, Pearl, Plati num, HeartGold, or SoulSilver games. At the theater, players would be able to do wnload a Celebi to the same games. Both of these Pokmon would activate special ev ents in Black and White involving Zoroark and Zorua, respectively. On April 18, 2010, the episode of Pokmon Sunday showed game footage of a player c haracter walking around in a 3-D environment and a single screenshot depicting a battle between the player's Zoroark and an enemy Zorua. Host Shoko Nakagawa mad e note of how the player's Zoroark's sprite was a full body sprite as viewed fro m behind, when in the past all such sprites only showed a smaller portion of the player's Pokmon's body.[45] On May 9, 2010, the episode of Pokmon Sunday revealed silhouettes of the three Pokmon available to choose from at the beginning of the games,[46] which were later revealed to be the Grass Snake Pokmon Tsutarja, the Fire Pig Pokmon Pokabu, and the Sea Otter Pokmon Mijumaru.[47] Other information r evealed is that the game takes place in the Isshu Region which includes the Hiun City metropolis.[48] On May 16, 2010, the episode of Pokmon Sunday showed game b attle footage, illustrating the new in-battle animations and dynamic camera posi tioning; also described were Zoroark's Illusion ability and the special Zoroark acquired by the movie ticket pre-order gift Pokmon.[49] On May 28, 2010, both the official Japanese and English Pokmon websites revealed names and designs of the two major Legendary Pokmon of these games, who also serv e as the game version mascots: the White Yang Pokmon Reshiram for Pokmon Black and the Black Yin Pokmon Zekrom for Pokmon White.[50] The July 2010 issue of CoroCoro Comic revealed the C-Gear wireless interactivity features,[51] the ability to u pload game data to the internet and the player's computer,[52] several brand-new Pokmon, new Pokmon moves, Reshiram and Zekrom's Pokmon types, details on the Celeb i/Zorua event, and a new character: Professor Araragi, the first female Pokmon pr ofessor to appear in the video games.[53] The June 27, 2010 episode of Pokmon Sun day, made the announcement of the release date as September 18, 2010, and a yetto-be named character.[54] The June 28, 2010, episode of Oha Suta, showed a trai ler, which included its release date, new gameplay footage, several new characte rs, more new Pokmon, and a three-on-three battle system.[55] The August 2010 issu e of CoroCoro Comic elaborated upon many new game mechanics: the three-on-three

system, the online Global Link system, an online Dream World that can allow for access to other Pokmon, access to an area that uses the Wi-Fi called the Hilink ( similar to the Underground), a special feature called the Live Caster for video chat on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, kanji support, aesthetic differences between the two versions of the game, areas exclusive to the game versions, new characters, new moves, new abilities, and new Pokmon.[56] The July 25, 2010, episode of Pokmon Sunday introduced the new phantom Pokmon Vict ini,[57] which initially appeared in a trailer for the 2011 Pokmon film that was shown with screenings of Phantom Ruler: Zoroark. It is noted to be Pokmon No. 000 in Isshu's regional Pokdex, and is only accessible by downloading a special item from Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, DS Stations, and Nintendo Zones (such as those found in Japanese McDonald's restaurants) to a game save. This was initially ava ilable for a month following the games' release date.[58] Another promotional Po kmon given out after the games' release is a Kumasyun, a Pokmon that is difficult to find in the games unless it is during the games' winter season.[59] On the day of the Japanese release, Nintendo of America sent cease and desist le tters to two English language Pokmon fansites, PokBeach and Serebii, after they pu blished screenshots and various other media from the newly released games.[60] N intendo claimed the posting of the media was infringing copyright and noted thei r intention to shut down the websites under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act unless the media was removed.[60][61][62][63] The screenshots were subsequently taken down from both websites.[62] Luke Plunkett of video game blog Kotaku init ially speculated that Nintendo of America issued the cease and desist letters ov er the belief that the images were illegally obtained via a ROM image; however, Jon Sahagian of PokBeach stated the images in question had been obtained from the Japanese forum 2channel.[60] Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America's senior dir ector of corporate communications, later stated that it was the choice of images that were of concern to the company. In a statement to Kotaku, he said, "Ninten do supports and appreciates the efforts that Pokmon fans go through to create fan sites. In most cases there is no issue with the content that is posted, but on this occasion we had to contact a select few websites to ask them to take down c onfidential images."[60] International release The foreign promotion for the games began on November 22, 2010, when the officia l website for the North American, European, and Australian markets was updated, including the localized names of the starter Pokmon (Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott i n English, Dutch, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish markets)[64] and th e setting (Unova Region).[65] Floats of version mascots Reshiram and Zekrom acco mpanied the Pikachu balloon during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Novembe r 25, 2010, the following Thursday.[66] On December 27, 2010, the official websites for the international releases updat ed once more, revealing the English names for many of the first Pokmon revealed d uring the promotion for the Japanese release. In addition, the English names for the game location Hiun City and the character Professor Araragi were revealed t o be Castelia City[67] and Professor Juniper,[68] respectively. Starting on January 3 and lasting until January 9, 2011, in the United States, p layers of Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver were able to visit GameStop stores to download the special shiny Raikou that was previously given out for Phantom Ruler: Zoroark pre-order ticket holders in Japan. Similar downlo ads would be available for the shiny Entei (January 17 to 23) and shiny Suicune (January 31 to February 6). All three of these Pokmon still enabled the event for Zoroark in the North American Black and White versions.[69] These three Pokmon w ere later distributed via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for European, Australian , and North American markets (for a second time) starting February 7 to 13 with Raikou, again, with subsequent staggered releases for Entei and Suicune througho

ut February. The Celebi event was run in North America and distributed through GameStop store s from February 21 to March 6, 2011, or it could be acquired from the tour promo ting the Black and White games that began on February 5, 2011.[70] In France and Spain, this same Celebi was available through various retailers from February 1 through March 3, 2011.[71][72] Italian players could get this Celebi from speci fic video game retailers from January 21 through March 3.[73] The event to distribute the item to allow players to capture Victini was also be run following the games' release internationally. North American players were a ble to download the item from Nintendo WFC from March 6 to April 10, 2011.[74][7 5][76] European players were able to get the item from March 4 to April 22.[77][ 78][79] Australian players were able to download it from March 10 to April 28, 2 011.[76] To commemorate the opening of the Pokmon Dream World feature, players were able t o play a game on the Pokmon website that would determine which evolved form of Ee vee they would receive upon the activation of the Dream World and Global Link fe atures. Audio Nintendo DS Pocket Monsters Black and White Super Music Collection (??????DS ??? ?????? ???????? ?????????????????) is a four-disc soundtrack featuring the games' music scored by Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, Shota Kageyama, Hitomi Sato, Morik azu Aoki, Minako Adachi, and Satoshi Nohara. The soundtrack was released on Octo ber 20, 2010, in Japan.[80] Go Ichinose was in charge of directing all Pokmon voi ces for the game while Minako Adachi produced all sound effects. Reception Critical response Pokmon Black and White have received largely positive reviews by critics, having an aggregate score of 86.35% on GameRankings and 87% on Metacritic (indicating g enerally favorable reviews).[81][82] Japanese magazine Famitsu Weekly awarded th e game a perfect 40/40 score, becoming the 15th game to receive such a distincti on, as well as obtaining the highest score ever given to a Pokmon video game by t he publication.[83] Game Informer's Annette Gonzalez remarked that "Pokmon Black and White do a great job building upon already solid features and taking them to the next level."[84] VideoGamer.com's Jamin Smith criticized the games for not innovating as much as some people would have liked, but stated that "rest assure d in the knowledge that Black and White are damn fine games; the best the series has to offer."[86] Official Nintendo Magazine referred to them as "A beautiful refinement of a great series [...] the best Pokmon ever."[87] Nintendo Power expr essed that "the Pokmon series's latest pair of adventures is as addictive as ever . "[88] Edge acknowledged that "where next for Pokmon Black and White don't sugge st any answers, but they do remind us why we'd care in the first place."[89] IGN gave the games a 9/10, a higher rating than any of the other Nintendo DS Pokm on games. The review praised the games for renewing interest in the series, thou gh criticized some of the new Pokmon designs, explaining that "aside from a weake r lineup of monsters (largely an aesthetic complaint), this is the best Pokmon ha s to offer on every level, renewing my waning interest in monster battling".[90] Jeremy Parish of Retronauts criticized Black and White, commenting that shortly after beginning, he grew tired of it, feeling like it was like all the games be fore it. He further goes on to say that EVs and IVs, invisible mechanics in the game, are not necessarily good. By contrast, he noted that it would be great to new players. He also compares it to the Pokmon Mystery Dungeon games and Final Fa ntasy XIII, arguing that they all share the common element of being bad before t hey get good. Fellow Retronauts contributor Justin Haywald criticized the games'

release on the DS, which had received two main Pokmon series games published bef ore them.[92] GamesRadar editor Carolyn Gudmundson stated "It may not break the Pokemon mold, but Black/White offers enough new content coupled with the series' classic, deep battle mechanics to make it endlessly playable. If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, this would be a wise choice." Commercial performance In August 2010, one month before the games' release in Japan, Pokmon Black and Wh ite gained a total of 1.08 million pre-orders, becoming the fastest game on the Nintendo DS to break the one million mark.[93] In the first two days on sale, it sold more than 2.6 million copies,[94] becoming the biggest launch in the serie s history in Japan.[95] By November 3, the games had sold over 4.3 million copie s in Japan.[96] As of January 9, 2011, the games became the fastest DS titles to sell five million copies.[97] Upon release in the UK, White and Black took the #1 and #2 spots respectively in the UK overall sales charts, with White becoming the second fastest-selling DS game ever in the UK after Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, selling 13,000 mor e copies than Black. Combined, their sales became Nintendo's third biggest ever launch in the UK, behind Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii, and the biggest opening wee kend ever for a pair of Pokmon titles.[98] In the US, Black and White sold more than 1.08 million copies on day one, breaki ng the previous day-one record held by predecessors Diamond and Pearl of 780,000 copies.[99] According to the NPD Group, Nintendo sold 1.3 million units of Whit e and 1.1 million units of Black in March 2011, making them the #1 and #2 top se lling games in the US for the month.[100] In April 2011, Nintendo's financial ea rnings report confirmed that Pokmon Black and White had sold 11.5 million copies worldwide, making them the highest selling DS games for Nintendo in the 2010-11 financial year, and third overall, behind only the Wii games, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort.[101] As of March 2013, the games' combined sales have reached 15 .42 million.[7]