Pokemon GO helped Nintendo 3DS become July's best-selling console

Nintendo's share of the goldmine that is Pokemon GO may be a bit nebulous, but today we're discovering that the app is helping Nintendo in more indirect ways. It would seem that Pokemon GO has helped renew interest in the core series of Pokemon games and, by extension, the platform that hosts them, as Nintendo has announced that its 3DS was the best-selling console in July.

That's right – Microsoft may be able to claim victory over Sony for the month of July, but neither company could apparently muster the sales to challenge gamers' Pokemon Mania. Nintendo didn't share specific sales numbers, but cited NPD data that will be featured in a full report next week. Sales across the 3DS family were up an impressive 80% over July 2015, while the 2DS managed to cross the two million sales threshold last month as well.

Of course, Pokemon wasn't the sole cause for the success of the 3DS, as Nintendo also caught a pretty major assist from its buddies over at Capcom. Monster Hunter Generations was not only the best-selling game on the 3DS, but also the best-selling game across all platforms, so we imagine its release helped sales of the 3DS as well.

Still, Pokemon GO's influence on Nintendo's sales are rather obvious, granting Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire an 80% increase in sales year-over-year. That's nothing compared to Pokemon X and Y, however, as those experienced a nearly 200% increase in sales over the same month last year.

You can bet that Nintendo is hoping Pokemon mania remains high as we head into autumn, with Pokemon Sun and Moon set to release in November. We'll see if Pokemon GO can maintain its popularity that long, but assuming it doesn't, Pokemon Sun and Moon are looking to shake up the formula enough that they might be able to draw in series veterans on their own. Stay tuned.