In recent weeks we've been reporting the exceptionally good run that 3DS is having in Japan, consistently selling more than all of its rivals combined. It's been confirmed today that it has hit yet another milestone, and in record time.
As reported by Andriasang, Japanese chart master Media Create has confirmed that the console passed the magic five million number after 52 weeks on the market. That's actually a record for Japanese hardware sales: the DS managed it in 56 weeks and the Game Boy Advance in 58 weeks. Most notably, these sales actually represent units sold in stores, rather than massaged figures of units shipped to retailers.
The dramatic price drop and three million-selling blockbusters show that a system's fortunes can turn around pretty quickly. Nintendo still made a loss in its most recent financial reports, but news like this should inspire optimism for the coming year.
[source andriasang.com]
Comments 16
I wish it was this popular in the US.
Glad they're doing this well. Keep it up.
This is what I see for the next Gen of handhelds! The 3ds continued success in Japan. The vita outside of Japan and the 3ds will slowly lose any translated games from Japan which will hold a 2-1 amount of games over the rest of the world!
Awesome news, keep it up nintendo!
oh no Nintendo is gonna fail (sarcasm) i think that the 3ds is going to pone the vita
It does deserve to sell well to be fair. Hopefully the ibrary will be GBA and DS levels of quality
The real news is that Nintendo sold 15 million low-resolution portable cameras in Japan this year. ; )
@warioswoods true dat, true dat and 10 million screens.
The PS Vita is gonna have a hard time with sales. To me it appears that Sony threw out a last resort attempt and added touch sensitive functions to the PS Vita in the hopes of reaching the same popularity of the DS, what they don't realize is that it's not just the hardware (though the touchscreen on the DS added more game play functions) it's also the software (which harnesses the touch screen functions). And having only five good games won't sell the system.
Keep on rising Nintendo! You can break your records.
Great news! It's always good whenever Nintendo succeeds. I was a bit hesitant about the 3ds whenever I heard of it at first, because I thought the release scene didn't stack up to previous ones. Now however that all the exclusive games are being worked on, I have to say that I won't hesitate to get one myself! Although, I was greatly disappointed that I missed the Legend of Zelda 3ds bundle.
@iroxyorsox cool name and no I'm not biased also way to go nintendo show all those fanboys who think that anything nintendo makes is going to fail. Nintendo is the king of handhelds and will never be beat. I like both nintendo and Sony (nintendo is my favorite though) but the one thing I can't stand is Sony fanboys.
Is that tiny spike at 25 weeks the price drop and then the late big curve the good game release schedule starting w/ OoT? If that's the case, Nintendo should have kept the price high and just released the good games earlier, or the system later when the games were ready. "chart master" Media Create needs to create better charts.
Wait the 3ds is selling more than the Wii? O:
Good to hear! Let's hope third parties take note and start bringing some more quality titles to the system. Soulcalibur, No More Heroes, Ninja Gaiden, some sort of core Final Fantasy. The possibilities are endless.
Good for Japan, not good for the US. The fact that the US has sold about the same as Japan is not a good sign that we'll be getting games. I guess its a start.
Tha graph seems to indicate that the price drop had very little effect on sales, at least in Japan. The real upswing starts for the Christmas season, when really good games were released. But interestingly, instead of slacking off, they have actually increased in 2012.
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