Pok¿mon Pre-orders pass 500,000

Nintendo has revealed that more than half-a-million Pocket Monster fans have pre-ordered the upcoming Pok¿mon Diamond and Pearl editions of the phenomenally successful franchise in the US.

533,000 copies of the DS titles have been pre-ordered and it's already set to become one of the best-selling videogames of 2007 Stateside. So far, pre-orders are double that of Pok¿mon FireRed and LeafGreen, which were released in 2004 and went on to sell more than 3.4 million copies.

Pok¿mon Diamond and Pearl are the first Pok¿mon RPG games to appear on DS - they feature 100 new Pok¿mon, online battles and improved graphics. Both are set for American release on April 22.

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