Pokemon Black & White Breaks Records Ahead of Release

Pokemon Black & White isn't due out in Japan for about a month, but it already appears to be off to a great start. The game has crossed one million consumer pre-orders faster than any previous DS game, publisher Pokemon Company announced today.

As of the 22nd, the game has seen total pre-orders of 1.08 million units. This is according to data from market analysis firm Media Create (the same company that provides our weekly Japanese game sales data).

Pre-orders began for the game on July 31. Black & White is the fastest pre-ordered DS game in history, Pokemon Co. says.

Pokemon Co. expects Black & White pre-orders to top the 1.5 million mark ahead of the game's September 18 release.