Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has stated that his company expects to sell 5 million 3DS consoles in Japan this fiscal year, contributing to a global target of 18 million units.
Speaking at a Capcom event in Tokyo, Iwata backed up his prediction by explaining that 5.5 million 3DS consoles were sold in Japan last year, adding to a total of 13.95 consoles worldwide. With 3DS exclusive Monster Hunter 4 on its way, scoring another 5 million sales this year should be reasonably easy.
Iwata was bullish about the health of Nintendo's handheld business, adding:
There are more and more media reports suggesting that things aren’t going very well for the dedicated gaming hardware business. But that’s not true, at least for the 3DS in Japan.
Nintendo's portable has been helped by bumper software sales in Japan this year, with titles like Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Tomodachi Collection selling millions of copies in its homeland.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 46
With Monster Hunter 4 coming in a couple of weeks, this is totally possible. BRING IT TO THE WEST CAPCOM!! Yes, I'm on a crusade. On this website. That Capcom localization people will probably never visit.
Well they're certainly on the right track!
Pokemon is coming out in a couple months, so anything is possible.
pokemon? fire emblem? shin megami tensei? monster hunter? animal crossing? and many more???!!! what 5 million? dont you mean 10 gazillamilliagajillion?... okay maybe i exaggerated quite a bit. XD and also made up a non-existent word...
It's crazy that a sequel to Link to the Past is barely registering on people's radar, what with Pokemon and Monster Hunter dominating Japan. 'Tis gonna be a big holiday for 3DS.
Anything could happen, Anything could happen, Anything could happen.
Hee hee hee hee hehe (ellie goulding, joke )
Obviously. I hope Wii U sales soar during the holidays!
I'm looking forward to seeing what effect MH4 and Pokemon have on hardware sales worldwide...
Yeah, with Pokémon being released soon (saw a advert for it on TV a moment ago!), the 3DS will continue to sell well.
The 3DS is such a huge success. I just wish it would register with the stock market.
With all the games already out and coming soon, I would be surprise if it didn't sell that much.
As many have said, Monster Hunter 4, Zelda LBW & Pokemon X & Y is a SUPER strong lineup, and our little guy should end up doing great I know ill be finally getting one for Zelda. LBW, Dream Team, and some reliving of Star Fox 64 in 3d for me, please
With Pokemon and Monster Hunter 3DS will sell millions of units for sure.
According to VGChartz, a useful if occasionally incorrect website, Japan has already bought about 2.3 million 3DS's as of mid-August. That gives Nintendo 4 and a half months to sell the remaining 2.7 million. During that time, Japan will receive:
*Pokemon X/Y (Anywhere from 3 to 5 million sales in Japan 2013 alone)
*Monster Hunter 4 (2 to 4 million sales in the same time frame)
*Mario Party 3DS (1 to 1.5 million sales)
*Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (0.5 to 1 million sales)
*One Piece (Hundreds of Thousands of Copies)
In addition, games like Tomodachi Collection, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion 2, Ace Attorney 5, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Monster Hunter 3G, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario Kart 7, NSMB2, and SM3DL should each sell thousands of copies.
Now, at this point in time, the 3DS has a physical software to hardware ratio of about 3 to 1 in Japan. So, assuming that a lot of people already own 3DS's and are buying new games for it, let's say that every 4 or 5 sales of these big games sells 1 3DS.
Pokemon X/Y alone sells a bit under a million 3DS's, a third of the goal. Let's say 800,000.
Monster Hunter 4 sells over half a million. About 600,000.
Mario Party 3D sells a quarter million 3DS's.
Zelda sells 150,000 3DS's.
One Piece sells, I dunno, let's go with a conservative 50,000.
In total, that's about 2/3 of the way to the goal of 5 million from the current point based on those FIVE titles alone!
EVERY GAME IN THE 3DS LIBRARY EXCEPT THOSE FIVE would have to sell under a million units.
I think Nintendo will be fine.
@LittleIrves Well damn! I even forgot about a Link Between Worlds! just goes to show how exciting everything else is, that the Legend of Zelda's the one that gets forgotten!
This is looking to be an awesome holiday season!
Very possible, they have 3 system sellers out before xmas
Yeah Monster Hunter 4 is coming, you just gotta wait a bit like we did with 3G.
@cbkummer Unless Monster Hunter 3 flopped on both the 3DS and Wii U, I'm pretty sure Monster Hunter 4 is going to come over. Nintendo may evenoffer to publish it.
I've got the feeling Monster Hunter is like Dragon Quest in the sense that it's an insanely popular brand in Japan that their parent companies want to expand in the West.
Every time I think the incoming flood of great 3DS games is dying down Nintendo announces a whole new mess of upcoming titles. And to think, I remember being so irritated and bored with the console in the pre-Ambassador days. Best gaming turnaround in history.
If you'll excuse me, I'm off to play some more Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
@Caryslan I really hope you're right.
I think Nintendo is being very cautious with their number of 5 million this year. With Pokemon and Monster Hunter 4 coming as the heavy hitters along with a new Zelda game I see the 3DS selling 7 million-10 million in Japan this year
Crazy numbers?
Yeah, but there are too many major games coming at once and the 3DS is on a roll.
@LittleIrves
Agreed! I hope it gets the spotlight soon.
Anyway, I have a few opinions on this.
1. This is very possible with the right titles to back it up. I just think major releases shouldn't always be in Fall. It seems like it all the 'must-have' titles get released then, then the rest of the game year suffers, the market certainly does. This summer had incredible releases to be sure, but we all know September-December is when you call of work to go on a shopping spree. If it were more balanced out, I could actually see there could be more profit.
2. I sort of feel Nintendo should be striving for WiiU sales. I know they already are, but saying they want 5,000,000 3DS systems sold kind of indicates a lack of faith in their home console. I don't think they're displaying equal faith. Hopefully the WiiU'll turn around in 2014.
@LittleIrves Oh it will be big. Maybe even bigger in the west as Japan has enough to play till the end of the year!
Only 5 million? With Pokemon coming out? I was thinking more like 5 berjillian.
3DS will probably pass the Wii's Japanese lifetime sales in Japan by the end of the year.
With a Pokémon and Monster Hunter Combo, it seems attainable. Zelda will add a bit as well.
18 million sold... I thought they sold more for some reason.
@SilentHunter382
I believe that's how many they project to sell worldwide in 2013. Their current lifetime global sales are in the low 20-millions at the moment, if I remember right, so I guess Nintendo is expecting to have around 35 million sold by the end of the year.
@WinterWarm What rock have you been living under the past 8 months. Just this year alone from Nintendo. Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing, Mario and Luigi's Dream Team, and to a lesser degree DKCR 3d only because its released before on the Wii. Oh and I forgot Lego City. That's just for the 3ds. Tbh I'm glad they're spreading them out as I've also picked up every Atlus offering so far for the 3ds!
@CaviarMeths life time sales are closer to 35 million worldwide. Also the Japanese fiscal year is like May to April I believe so that when they expect to sell the 18 million!
@left4breadFTW Lol, I love that song XD. But 5 million is an easily obtainable goal with Pokémon on the way, 3DS will explode (even more) once that hits stores.
MH4 and Pokémon X/Y will make it happen.
I think sells would surely exceed that.
I think they need to sell 5 million 3ds to get the money to pay for what the wii u lost
@WinterWarm
I think they plan on letting the 3DS glide on its own after this holiday season and concentrate more on the Wii U in 2014. I mean, with games like Pokemon and MH4 the 3DS will do just fine, but the Wii U obviously needs some love: and with games like Yarn Yoshi, SMT X FE, X, Bayonetta 2, Smash, and Mario Kart, all they need is some more fleshing out of the lineup by taking resources previously spent ALL on the 3DS and putting them towards the Wii U.
Wait, does this mean that NINTENDO does want to succeed like the DS in sales? I thought they said they would never achieved it.
5 million is a little conservative in my opinion. With both Pokemon X/Y and Monster Hunter 4, the two most popular franchises in Japan, as well as Zelda, 3DS could sell well above that. 3DS is about to surpass N64 lifetime sales overall if it hasn't already. By the end of 2014 the 3DS will be fairly close to SNES lifetime sales. We don't know much about the 3DS' 2014 lineup other than Yoshi, Mario Golf, Smash, and some localizations.
i hope nintendo keeps up the 3ds and dont bring a new handheld for at least another few years. It's been doing so well!
I think that Nintendo can easily surpass this number. Pokemon anyone?
It's easy to see that the 3DS is gaining a larger install base every day simply due to Streetpass trends. When I first got my 3DS, I went to a mall and was excited to see that I had 3 tags (including my brother who also has a 3DS and was beside me the whole time with it in his pocket). Things were like this for a while, but soon enough, I would get Streetpass regularly. On vacation in New York the next year, for example, I would usually get six or seven people per day. I went to the Ex in Toronto last year, and got around fourteen tags in the day, which was exciting for me. Today I went again, and managed to tag a whopping 26 people (actually, probably more, since I had 10 people waiting in my plaza for a while so I likely missed a few tags during that period). I expect that next year, the results will be even more astounding.
This is a very logical possibility.
Yes! 3ds......you did it. (starts crying tears of joy)!
@Captain_Balko I've also seen this. I live in Paris and for the first six months I was lucky if I had 3 streetpass per week. Now through my daily subway routine, I usually get 5 or 6 per day, and if I come close to a place selling anything somehow tech related, I get 10 in no time.
@Spoony_Tech Yeah Zelda games always sell better in US according to VGChartz. Most of em sold over a million or millions in US alone!
This isn't surprising at all. Those games alone move consoles...period! I have to say that I'm incredibly happy as a 3DS owner and a Wii U owner. The 3DS is leading the consoles right now. I honestly believe that the 3DS will surpass PS3/360 sales in time. They are already half way there. It may even catch the Wii. Who knows!
"With 3DS exclusive Monster Hunter 4 on its way, scoring another 5 million sales this year should be reasonably easy."
Pokémon X&Y is also an exclusive that will sell bazingas of consoles... even more than MH4 imo.
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