Nintendo claims that the success of Pokemon GO helps to raise sales of the 3DS, as the handheld console gets named as the best selling system of July 2015.

Earlier this year we claimed that 2016 would be the Year of Pokemon, something that seems to have become true given the success of Niantic's AR game, Pokemon GO. Not only this, but the hype surrounding the upcoming release of Pokemon Sun and Moon has many Nintendo fans beginning to relive their childhood passions for the franchise.

The success of Pokemon GO can be seen directly through the rise in 3DS sales, claims Nintendo. In July, the NPD Group's monthly North American sales report showed that the system's sales have increased 80% year-on-year, making it the best-selling system of the month. According to the Big N itself, the sales increase comes courtesy of Pokemon GO's popularity.

New Pokemon Games Coming to Wii and 3DS

While the latest Pokemon title doesn't have a physical release, nor does it require a 3DS to play it, the excitement of a new Pokemon game appears to have caused gamers to remember that the franchise is still very much alive and kicking, making many wonder what has changed since the original games first released in the 90's.

According to further statistics offered up by vg247.com, Pokemon X and Y sales have raised 200% year-on-year over July 2015, which helps to show that the Pokemon series is almost certainly behind the 3DS sales boost. Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, the latest main series remasters, are also up 80% year-on-year.

Despite Nintendo's statement, it's actually Monster Hunter Generations that stands at the top of the best-selling charts for this month. A game with a devoted fanbase, there's little doubt that Monster Hunter fans would look into buying a 3DS to play, especially after the franchise's previous success on the console.

Pokemon Omega Ruby took 8th place on the charts, with Kirby: Planet Robobot landing itself a place at number 11 for this month. All in all, the 3DS is having an extremely strong month – something that's likely to carry on for the rest of the year, thanks to Pokemon Sun and Moon.

Despite being a free-to-play game, Pokemon GO is doing very well for itself, at one point raking in almost half of all microtransactions on the app store. The game's freemium system has been designed in a way that seems to draw in even those that usually avoid spending money on free games, with over one million UK players having spent money on the title.

And although Nintendo don't have much of a hand in Pokemon GO, it seems that the game has helped raise profits for the company in other ways.

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Pokemon GO is available now for iOS and Android devices.