Describing the sales success of Pokémon titles has become a tricky enterprise, as the franchise has encompassed just about every precious metal in the Periodic Table. We hope you don't find this next statement too confusing: According to data from Media Create, Pokémon Black and White have gone Platin ... er, platinum in Japan, as pre-order sales for the two titles have already reached 1.08 million units.

These pre-orders have only been available since July 31, which The Pokémon Company claims is a new speed record for sales on the DS platform. The Company expects pre-order sales to reach 1.5 million before the game launches September 18. It would be all the more impressive if they could hit 10 million pre-orders, at which point they'd go Diamond. Or, even more ambitiously, they could aim for 20 million in pre-sales, bringing the games up to the rarely achieved SoulSilver status.