Nintendo Switch Tops US Sales In December, 3DS Sales Highest Since 2014

Must be soon time for new game announcements for 3DS.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see the 3DS did so well in 2017.

3ds still doing well, nice.

Good sales all round.

That’s great for the 3ds but I hope it doesn’t encourage Nintendo to continue making games for it. Don’t get me wrong I love it but it’s hard to go back to it when you have a Switch.

@Aaron09 You don't have to play it.

The 3DS has some good value, but idk why people are buying it now...

EDIT: So apparently I need to clarify this by saying: I understand why people are buying a 3DS. What I don't understand is what happened in 2017 that made so many people pick it up? 2016 was just as good a year for the 3DS as 2017. It seems like the Switch just sold more people on the Nintendo branding, but since they didn't want a Switch they got a 3DS instead.

Switch is going to doing even better this year! There has never been a console so flexible, so adaptable or just plain brilliant.

Bravo Nintendo! The other big surprise is the Xbox outselling the PS4!

Yeah but it lost to the PS4 last week in Japan so I guess...doomed?

Impressive for a 7 year old console... I mean... Wow.

Holy tamale! Switch is killing it!!

I'm amazed that the 3DS keeps marching on.

In the USA, can confirm. I was kind of surprised to see Switches selling so well after a lull when Nintendo started to catch up with demand. Even the physical games are scarce.

There are a lot of great games for the 3DS and the 3DS itself isn't that expensive, so it isn't really a surprise that it sold so well.

Great news!

@MasterWario I don’t understand why people don’t understand.

I have a 3 and 5 year old. You think switch is a viable opinion?

Buying two 2d door stops was perfect. They are duarable. That’s tons of cheap games and well perfect for them. It makes great sense as far as library, price and duarability to a lot of parents.

go go Nintendo!

@gortsi Not really doomed as such, as the Japanese market means nothing apparently.

@WiltonRoots true and if any game doesn't sell well in the UK, the alpha and omega of the globe's gaming market, then that surely means it flopped. Several "analysts" in here truly believe that

Just because it’s getting old, a ds/3ds has a library of over 1000s games and it’s s great portable system for any age. I still own 3 in the ds family. 2 of them get used still, even though we have 2 switches.

@MasterWario You answered your own question "The 3DS has some good value". I just imagine kids takin' their 2DS' out of their backpacks after school just playin' and tradin' pokemon. I don't see parents letting them take Switches to school.

if people really want the 3DS to die, maybe they should stop buying it

And people still scream for Nintendo to kill off the 3DS. Amazing sales for that machine.

great to see the 3DS doing well.

It seems the US has Nintendo fever.

Good news. I want to see the 3DS sell 80 million units, but I think 77 million seems more likely (half of original DS sales.)

And yet... All these reviewers and Nintendo related sites constantly say things like "clearly Nintendo is winding the 3DS down" and reacts with incredulity whenever a new game is announced for it. With sales like that, why not support it? I think most of those folks need to realize that not everyone is an early adopter that stood in line to buy a Switch on day 1.

With that said, I've heard even people at work taking about the Switch, something I never heard with Wii U or even 3DS.

North America has a huge market for Nintendo switch and the 3ds family. it is no surprise that it is still doing well.

That’s crazy that 3ds sales went up.

Also I remember wishing for increased 3DS/Wii u connectivity.

If the sales stay strong, maybe do that with switch?

"Oh, and did we mention 3DS racked up its best sales figures since 2014"

And this is why people need to stop whining about the 3DS. Not every person or family is willing or able to spend $300+ for a Switch and games. The 3DS presents a great budget gaming option and is doing really well, and Nintendo will probably continue to support it as long as that remains the case.

So please stop spamming every 3DS game article with "Switch version or no buy" comments.

@Aaron09 I'll admit I do enjoy playing games on the switch more than the 3ds, but I dusted mine off to play Fire Emblem Echoes in May and Metroid Samus Returns in September and I absolutely loved both games, so much so that those 2 games are my favorite 3ds games of all time now. For certain games it is still worth owning and playing.

@rjejr
I have to adjust my feelings on a more portable Switch, now. I didn't expect 3DS to grow in sales and I certainly didn't see Nintendo Labo coming. These two things together put any ultra-portable Switch hardware option off a further distance in my mind. I always thought it was barely a possibility, but now Holiday 2018 is at about 0%.

I'd honestly like 3DS to fade away, as I don't want any more must-have games to release for it exclusively (Metroid, Zelda, etc.). I do not like the discomfort of playing even on a New 3DS XL. It's just not optimized for my size and I like to play with the family participating (though, I do like the 3D unlike many).

In addition, I'd say the pressure to release Pokemon RPG for Switch this year is pretty much off — probably good for that game to have more time in the oven, anyway. Nintendo is going to want one more good year with 3DS I think.

Question is will they back it up with additional first party games or heavily promote third party games?

@BravelyDavid @Aaron09
I think that's the thing that effects us that are ready to move on to the Switch. Not saying the games on 3DS aren't great, just saying we'd rather they stop landing there, only. I'm all for releases on both, but that's a tall resource-consuming order.

If it wasn't for this big sales spike and the Labo plans, I'd think Nintendo could maybe offer a more portable Switch to capture up much of the 3DS crowd, but looks like a no go for awhile.

Just imagine if Nintendo kept releasing great games on a console you could barely play for an hour because it was uncomfortable and more limited than the 3DS in what you wanted to do with it. It just kind of sucks.

Also, to play those games, I bought a New 3DS XL just to make it better than our old one and to let both kids play. It cost more than a Switch to do that overall. I don't regret many Nintendo purchases but the ones I come closest to regretting are always the portables.

Just bought my nephew a 2DS for Xmas. Library is so great and cost of entry so low, it’s stillness a great first system. With the net announced selects it will be that much easier to add some awesome new games to his collection

@Supadav03 No doubt it's a great value, for kids especially.

@subpopz Yeah, I think this is the final year, but I had hoped that 2017 was going to be. In retrospect, there was too much uncertainty with the Switch for Nintendo to risk the 3DS market, too. So... maybe this is the year Nintendo actively winds it down, but it still has a few surprises it had been hedging bets with in development last year.

The ONLY reason 3DS didn't sell better last Christmas is that it was SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE.

That being said, I love that people are still buying 3DS/2DS, but I'm hoping this doesn't convince Nintendo to make more 3DS games. If there are a few games that they've almost completed then yes by all means finish them, but let's get all teams working on Switch games ASAP.

Go 3ds! Love my switch but I only use that as a home console, still bring my 3ds with me when travelling etc 😊

Nintendo kept pumping out games for the NES for the first 4 years of the SNES's lifespan. Look at any system and you will see overlap.

@rosemo you hit the nail right on the head with that. Not everyone wants or can afford a switch at the moment. Those 750 k in sales suggests that Nintendo isn't quite done with the 3ds which is mostly fine by me. I just wish that ther were some better first party games for the 3ds planned for this year. It seems like Nintendo is most likely winding down first party support

@ollietaro @Kobeskillz You misunderstand. The point I'm trying to make is the device has been out for 7 years, why are people just picking it up now? I know its a good option instead of a Switch. But I've had a 3DS since year one; where have all these people been until now? Didn't know Nintendo existed until the Switch came out? Ultra Sun/Moon pushed you over? Some price drop I haven't heard of?

The 3ds was a great value years ago.

@rosemo @AlphaElite

Come on now, you both know as well as the rest of us that when people tell Nintendo to "kill the 3DS", they mean quit supporting it with new games. Nobody cares if they continue to sell the 3DS off it's back catalogue, which is what it's doing.

I mean the 3DS has one of the strongest libraries of any console out there and is still worth a purchase for anyone who has yet to experience it. However, people just now buying it and expecting future support will be extremely disappointed. I think some localizations of JRPG titles (like the upcoming Atlus ones) and maybe a handful of titles that have already been in development for a while will be it. If the rumors of a 3DS remake of Link's Awakening are true, that would be a great swan song for the system.

Great for the 3DS. I got a N2DS for Christmas and having a blast playing all the games I missed from last year. Playing Monster hunter stories and monster hunter world in the same month is hysterical..

Can't wait for Alliance Alive

Good show for both systems.

@MasterWario "The 3ds was a great value years ago." Not everyone is an early adopter like you. A parent or grandparent sees in store both the 3DS and Switch and thinks, "Hmm, $79 for 2DS or $399 for Switch?" They might splurge on a Switch for little Jimmy or be budget-conscious and buy him a 2DS instead. Little Jimmy (LOL) probably begged for a Pokemon game for months so a generous family member will likely get him the system that can play it. They might even buy him a used DSi since Pokemon DS games can be found at game stores. Game systems of previous gens always overlap with the newest one for some time. And the Japanese are notorious for continuing to buy older systems. They are still buying PS3s.

The Switch sold great in December, but I've heard rumors that Switch sales will fall off a cliff this month. Internet armchair analysts told me...

@ollietaro So...you're saying the Switch has boosted the 3DS sales?

I am absolutely loving this Nintendomination, long may it continue! We're just off a flight to Paris from Belfast and my son played Super Mario Odyssey the whole time, fantastic stuff.

I own a Switch but I'm always playing my 3DS, it's simply a beautiful console.

@MasterWario
"why are people just picking it up now? "
The games, dude.
Some peoples are fond with 3DS and NDS games, doesn't matter if the games are really old.

@WiltonRoots @gortsi - Guys, don’t over complicate things. Sales numbers only matter when Switch isn’t on top. That’s when the basement folk emerge from their tightly woven cocoon of Doritos bags, yell something slightly coherent about the frame rate on their 4k super computers, tell us what serious, hardcore, big boy games they’re playing, and then call us fanboys and NDFers. Simple.

This sort of thing is exactly why I keep telling people to not count 3ds out.

@Paddle1 I know. I just would like to play those 3ds games on my Switch lol

@aaronsullivan I think very few people saw Labo coming, and zero saw that name coming. Even reading it now gives me a headache.

It does add a new wrinkle to 3DS support though, doesn't it? If they are busy making Labo games, Switch games and mobile games, how many more 3DS games will they make? I was already thinking zero seeing XC2, Yoshi and in particular Kirby on Switch, w/ Kirby really looking like a 3DS game. And we already know Pokémon is coming to Switch. What other 3DS games are there to make?

I think this sales spike is just a blip, not a trend. Not everybody buys a new console year 1, there isn't enough stock for starters, and that $149 New 2DS XL had a few cool designs. So while I can see the sales spike giving Nintendo pause, I think they focus on Switch for their main games. 3DS could still get something - Frozen 2 is releasing in 2 years, fall 2019, that may get a 3DS game - but nothing I'd consider to be a system seller. And you know how cheap Nintendo is with marketing, Labo, Switch, maybe both NES and SNES minis. How much more will the actively promote 3DS? Kids are going to want Labo, that's the Switch seller for kids, 3DS doesn't have it. They still have a few Selects to go, and they could drop the console prices finally -3DS XL has been $199 for like 7 years - but no big new games. Afterthought.

As for Switch Mini, in the beginning I thought that could be this holiday, but as sales continued unabated by last fall I was thinking Switch Portable - no $90 dock, $15 Grip, $5 HDMI cable - for $219 holiday 2018, on sale BF for $199. Maybe in March 2019 unveil the MIni. Parents might just be more inclined to spend $219 on their kid who doesn't have a tv, so why does s/he need a $90 dock? Plus, several of those Labo designs - house, piano, Hexbug - DON'T use the dock. If you are buying your kid a Switch and $70 Labo you're only using the dock for charging, so drop it. Who knows, maybe they'll call it "Switch Labo Edition".

So while I always thought a dockless Switch was coming, Labo 1 gives them even more reason. Have you ever scene Switch look more like a tablet than in that house or piano? Sure, it needs the Joycon to work, but that Hexbug touch control screen is all tablet, no dock. Same for "fall over man", the 1 2 Switch of Nintendo Labo.

Who needs 3DS?

Honestly I haven't touched my Switch in a while since I got back to Shiny Hunting on Pokemon. Since I have all Gen 6 games and Moon/Ultra Sun there are a lot of different options for this.

2013 and 2014 were magical time for 3DS owners. Pokémon, Fire Emblem, SMTIV, etc etc.

@MasterWario I did not get my PS3 or Xbox 360 until 2012, 7 years after both systems launched, and (or course I did not know this at the time) less then a year before the PS4 and Xbox One launch.

Did you know that back in 1998, years after the glory days of the 16-bit consoles, people were still buying SNES and Genesis consoles, even starting one last battle between the two aging systems?

People were still buying NES consoles and games until 1994 when the SNES finally got cheap enough to attract attention away from Nintendo's 8-bit hardware.

People buying 2DS and 3DS systems in large numbers is not a shocker if you consider trend that have been seen in previous consoles and generations.

Its not like the DS, PS2, PS1, and other successful systems stopped selling just because a newer console came out. Alot of late adopters are either children who are getting the system because its cheap, people who either owned a 3DS in the past and sold it off and want a new model to play the games they missed, or even gamers who might have grown up with Nintendo, but fell out of touch with them during the Wii, DS, or Wii U era, as well as people who stopped buying Nintendo hardware even before that, and are just now coming back and they view the 3DS family as a good place to start.

The 3DS family is a great value even to this day, and the success of the Switch does nothing to change that. How is having a game libary with numerous classic games, an eshop full of great indie and smaller titles, and the ability to play Virtual Console games from the NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, and SNES not a great value if you never owned a 3DS before? Especially if you're wanting to get the most value for your buck? The Switch is great, but it will take years for it to match the 3DS' libary.

The 3DS has that awesome backlog of games, and lots of kids still got it for Christmas. It's a very cheap system at this point. The 2DS selling for like 70 bucks or less on sale. Great for young kids and big families.

That said, I haven't touched my 3DS since I finished Pokemon UltraFullretailpriceDLC edition.

Great month for Nintendo overall.

But yeah, according to the usual naysayers, sales only matter when Nintendo isn't on top.

@bimmy-lee It's all about Power. Space marines. Power. Guns. Power. Stubble. Power. 4k. Power. Scowling antiheroes. Power. "AAA". Power. Nintendo just doesn't seem to get that hence why it will ultimately fail.

I play both my 2017 New SNES edition 3DS XL (I really like the looks of it) and my Switch. I love and play them both, but I prefer the 3DS because I like old skool platform games and there is a huge library of them on the 3DS (3DS-, DS- and Virtual Console games)!

@rjejr "fall over man" I'm still LOLing.

I think I'm on board the dockless Switch this Holiday (or earlier). Maybe. You can always buy a dock later for maximum Nintendo profits. It's like a payment plan.

I mean, we have an extra dock just not being used right now. We just plugged in the extra Switch and swap in the one we want on TV. I'd have rather had a dockless Switch for our second one if it would save us money.

Interesting that the variety pack doesn't seem to need a TV, but the Robot one would be weird without it.

The Labo progression: Parent want Labo. Must get Switch first, we'll get the dockless to save money. Buy Variety pack Labo next. Awesome. Kid want Robot. Dock makes it better.

All the money and more, just spread out. It's pro or anti consumer depending how you want to spin it.

All that said... maybe just bundling is better from Nintendo's point of view. I don't think Pokemon is going to make it by the end of this year. Not unless Nintendo has a team working with Game Freak or something (which is possible). If they did make it though, the dockless could be bundled with Pokemon...

But now, that makes me wonder. The big deal is that Pokemon is sneaking onto a home console without admitting it. But those who want it on the TV are going to see a bundle without the dock? lol. I don't know. Maybe, though, Game Freak knows best and a Pokemon bundled dockless Switch is exactly what the market truly wants and is the best way to transition 3DS fans away en masse.

The thing about dockless Switch is that it could even launch in April alongside Labo to great affect.

I think you are optimistic at $219, though. No grip, dock, or HDMI cable is a good point, but... I don't know. Maybe because the manufacturing has been so huge. I think one reason Kimishima is pushing so hard (besides avoiding Wii U slump at all costs) is getting the most out of economies of scale. The more of these made the cheaper they are made... and when the balance shifts and they start piling on shelves, maybe that price cut is built-in and inevitable (works when it is generally successful, not when it's Wii U). So, maybe $219.

What's interesting is they could just do this whenever they please and it would be a crowd pleasing shockwave. It would seem like such a big drop even though you are getting less. However, the gamers that care more and have been eyeing this as their second portable system will feel like it is a big drop in price. Meanwhile the $299 version just sits next to it on the shelf confidently, knowing that some will still want it... maybe it goes down to $279.

I do think there are plenty of people who say they want that small convenient size of the 3DS that might be swayed by the dockless. Probably good to get them all converted before going after the kids with the ultra-portable version.

One side argument for the dock, though. It provides better performance for games and that's important. People without it don't even have the chance to see the games at full potential... but maybe that's just going to help eventually bring them to buy it separately.

@MasterWario It's like in Japan when both the PS4 Pro and PS4 Slim came out. Slim was advertised as the more affordable option. Same reason why Switch AND 2DS/New 2DS/New 3DS are simultaneously in production. I think both systems help sell each other. It benefits Nintendo to deliver as many of their systems, regardless of generation, in households as they can. Families that purchase 3DS may one day purchase a Switch. Besides, do you think Ninty's using their 3DS profits to fund more 3DS games or Switch games? I think it's a healthy market situation.

And people said the 3DS was dead...