Pokemon's renaissance has continued - Nintendo has announced that its recently released Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon games have become the company's fastest-selling titles in both Europe and the Americas.

The company says that the 3DS games have sold 3.7 million units since they were released on November 18th - that's 85% more than Pokémon X and Y in 2013.

In Europe they sold 1.5 million games in the first week - 1.9 million in Japan.

This comes months after the success of Pokemon Go - an augmented reality based mobile game from the same franchise.

Its popularity led to a surge in the value of Nintendo shares, only to come back down after it was revealed that the success of the game would boost the profits of Niantic Labs - the company who developed that game. Nintendo will only get a minor stake of the income.

After this announcement its shares plummeted by 17%.

However, since then the company's stocks have recovered to the heights reached during the Pokemon Go boom.

The company has announced a major deal with Apple which will see Mario Run - the first Mario mobile game - released on Apple's App Store on December 15th. An Andriod release will follow in 2017.

It's also scored a major Christmas hit with its Classic Mini NES - a throw back to the pioneering 1980s console. Its factories have been struggling to match consumer demand for the gaming system.

Following a big win with casual games with the release of the Nintendo Wii in 2006 the company has been losing ground to its competitors in recent years.

In October it unveiled the Nintendo Switch, a hybrid tablet / gaming system device offering a unique mobile experience which it hopes will deliver a Wii style 'win' when it hits stores.

Switch will bridge the gap between Nintendo's mobile and stationary devices when it launches in March of next year.