The Poke-madness is running wild as Nintendo and The Pokemon Company announced that Pokemon X & Y have sold 12 million copies worldwide collectively since release. This makes it the fastest selling 3DS game ever.

It’s still not the highest selling Pokemon title to date though as the original Game Boy games sold 24 million units to date. Regardless, sales are strong and the overall franchise is thriving as 245 million Pokemon titles have been sold worldwide till date. It’s interesting to note that since January 2014, Pokemon X & Y have sold 400,000 copes till date.

The collectible card game and TV show have also been a strong successes with 20 billion cards sold worldwide and broadcasts for the cartoon being featured in more than 160 countries. The next big Pokemon release will be a feature film, namely Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction. Will you be checking it out? Let us know in the comments.

Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire, the latest “expansion” to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which will feature booster cards and themed decks, will be out in stores on May 7, bringing to players 100 new trading cards.

The Flashfire expansion will bring the following features to the TCG:

– New mega-evolution Pokemon, including a Mega Kangaskhan-EX and two forms of Mega Charizard-EX (including a fire type version and a dragon type version).

– New Pokemon-EX cars- Two versions of Charizard-EX, Toxicroak-EX, Magnezone-EX and Kangaskhan-EX.

– 25 Pokemon from Pokemon X and Y will appear in this set, 15 of which will be completely new to the TCG.

– Packs of 10 additional cards selected from the expansion will be available.

– Themed decks- 60 card pre-constructed decks designed to introduce new players to the Pokemon TCG.

That’s definitely some interesting additions, it has to be said. What do you guys think? Do you plan on purchasing any of this? Tell us in your comments.

From Software’s Dark Souls 2 has seen a strong start in Japan, according to the latest batch of Media Create charts. Despite being on sale for three days, the PS3 version soared to the top and managed to sell 255,197 units.

Level-5’s Yokai Watch managed to move up to second place with 37,247 units sold for a lifetime total of 569,720 units sold while Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca’s Wonderful Mysterious Keys sold 18,728 units for a lifetime sales total of 737,593 units.

PS4 titles have pretty much exited the top ten, though the PS3 version of Yakuza: Ishin managed to sell 10,034 units (with lifetime sales at 222,147 units). Pokemon X/Y is inching ever closer to selling 4 million units within its lifetime in Japan with 10,106 units sold this week and a lifetime total of 3,994,938 units. inFamous: Second Son is due to arrive on March 21st so it could have a bearing on the console’s success in Japan but we’ll have to wait and see.

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company International have released a statement informing the public that the western releases of both the Pokemon Bank and the Poke Transporter will see delays due to the large amount of traffic plaguing the Nintendo Network service at this time. The number of users attempting to access the Network in recent weeks has caused a bottleneck clog of sorts, preventing people from setting up their Network IDs and even from downloading content.

These apps were originally intended to be launched today, December 27th. As a result of this delay, there is no word as to when the two accompanying Pokemon apps will see a western release. The two apps–as one could surmise from their names–have to do with the cloud storage and transfer of captured Pokemon between titles. The Poke Bank allows players to upload their captured Pokemon for storage, and the Poke Transfer.

Source: Nintendo Support.

Media Create has revealed the Japanese software sales for this week, with previous top seller Gran Turismo 6 having tumbled all the way down to seventh. GungHo Online Entertainment’s Puzzles & Dragons Z debuted at the top spot, selling 543,630 on the 3DS. So now you know why the numbers for Nintendo’s handheld are currently in the six digits.

On the other hand, Pokemon X and Y is still going strong at second place with 159,244 units sold this week and 3,360,163 lifetime sales. Super Mario 3D World continues to aid the Wii U, selling 57,862 units and propelling the console to second place in the hardware charts.

This week also saw the debut of Call of Duty: Ghosts Dubbed Version for the PS3, which sold 37,519 units. Gran Turismo 6 only managed to sell 37,306 units this week, making for lifetime sales of 242,090 units. Monster Hunter 4 continues to rise past 3 million units despite being at ninth place and Animal Crossing: New Leaf has crossed 3.5 million lifetime sales with 26,409 units sold this week.

Square Enix’s third and supposedly final entry in the Final Fantasy XIII saga, namely Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, debuted this past week in Japan to lower than expected sales. In fact, according to Media Create, it averaged the lowest sales of any entry in the saga thus far, selling 277,082 units since releasing November 21st. Contrast this to the opening weeks of Final Fantasy XIII, which sold 1.5 million units and Final Fantasy XIII-2 which sold 605,000 units.

Super Mario 3D World also debuted for the Wii U, selling 99,588 units. Given the dismal sales of Wii U games in Japan, it’s not surprising but it does create concern for the console in the Holiday season. Pokemon X and Y sold 72,932 units though and finally crossed 3 million units sold since its release in Japan. So bit of good news and a bit of bad news for Nintendo this week.

What are your thoughts on the initial sales for Lightning Returns? Let us know below.

Pokemon X & Y is also selling great over in Japan, where it is expected to cross over 3 million units sold in its lifetime. Check out our review for the game here.

Hardware sales saw an 8 percent drop year-on-year for $171.7 million but portable saw a year-on-year increase, with the 3DS beating the Vita to be the best selling portable for six months now. The Xbox 360 topped the home console charts with 166,000 units sold.

The best-selling games for October across all formats include GTA V, Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, Battlefield 4, Batman: Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, NBA 2K14, Skylanders Swap Force, Lego Marvel Super Heroes and WWE 2K14. How will hardware sales fare with the release of the PS4 today and the launch of the Xbox One on November 22nd? Stay tuned in the coming month to find out.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter 4 is still doing great, selling 40,205 units for a lifetime sales total of 2,912,101 copies. Akiba’s Trip 2 debuted on the PS Vita in fourth place and sold 33,476 units, while Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2013 sold 30,875 units this week, garnering 167,584 lifetime sales.

After helping to boost the Wii U’s sales, Wii Party U has dropped to 11th place this week, with 15,969 units sold and a lifetime total of 53,341 units. The 3DS XL reigned supreme in the hardware category yet again with 53,190 units (down from the previous week’s 58,627) and the 3DS selling 28,627 units (down from 29,749 the week prior). The PlayStation Vita is in third place, with 21,764 units sold, down from 27,618 units.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter 4 is still doing great business, seliing 46,729 units this week for a lifetime total of 2,872,106 units sold. The most interesting new release is Wii Party U, which debuted with 37,371 sold but seemingly helped shift 38.802 units this week – a monstrous raise over last week’s 2,598 units sold.

In terms of hardware though, the 3DS XL sold 58,627 units this week, down from last week’s 69,001 units while the Wii U is in second place. The 3DS sold 29,749 units, down from 40,507 units last week, and the PS Vita averaged 27,618 units this week, up from last week’s 24,513 units.