3DS Passes 4 Million Sales
Despite an interesting launch, with lackluster release titles and a seemingly shocking number of initial sales, the 3DS has managed to move 4 million units in the past 9 months of being on the market. Impressive on it’s own, even more so when put next to the sales of Nintendo’s previous products.
The Wii – which was considered the best selling console of all time, it regularly selling out within hours of shops getting new stocks in – only moved 4.5 million units in its first year, meaning the 3DS is very close to matching or even beating what the Wii managed to achieve.
This is all well and good, but the 3DS did have a helping hand, with several price cuts – some minor, one major – as well as the help of both Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land both being released just before the festive holidays, which make perfect gifts for any gaming fan.
If Nintendo had held the 3DS release off a bit longer and released it together with some of these bigger games then there’s a possibility that they would have made these impressive figures earlier in the console’s lifetime. The blows are still coming though, as many people who were tempted to buy a console are put off by the extra thumb stick peripheral that makes the 3DS look rather chunky, and are now holding off, waiting for the possibility of Nintendo releasing second gen consoles with all the add-ons built in.
Either way, the 4 million mark is incredibly impressive and it seems the 3DS has plenty more to give. This certainly gives it some legs, with the Western Vita Launch looming around the corner.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz
Rik Wortman
When he’s not writing up a storm at his desk, he’s playing games like Minecraft, Skyrim, Portal, World of Warcraft, Pokemon…well, the list goes on. He studied English and Creative writing at university, which is where he honed his skills for making the gaming news come alive, with a few terrible typos along the way for good measure. Fret not though, my friend, for he does tell quite an engaging tale with each article, and has had plenty of practice, having written for This Is My Joystick and 3DSBuzz.
In between articles he likes to indulge in one of his addictions: Twitter. @Wortermelon provides a good dose of gold on occasion, and other times leaves you wondering why you’re following such a huge weirdo.
