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Nintendo 3DS reaches 5 million sales in Japan - Breaks the record

Luigiv

Member
How is it possible that its selling better then the DS?


GAF told me smart phones have been eating away the handheld market.

To be fair, the DS didn't truly explode until it's second year. Not to say it didn't have momentum in it's first year (Nintendogs was quite the unexpected system seller) but it was 2006 with it's slew of strong software and the lite when the system really started to take off.
 

Bruno MB

Member
Well deserved!

The 3DS has practically become into my only gaming device. The only downside is its terrible battery, I have to recharged it almost every one or two days (a really annoying and very slow process). And also being an European portable console user is not easy due to lack of localizations. How I would love to be playing to Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, Devil Survivor: Overclocked, Dragon Quest: Slime Morimori 3 or Inazuma Eleven Go: Shine / Dark.
 

DrWong

Member
In the US, 3DS is selling faster than the DS did during the same point in its life. Don't know about Europe, though.

Either way the whole smartphone/tablet vs dedicated handheld argument tends to take an incredibly simplistic view. There's are way more factors that go into the performance of a gaming system.

Available datas, if I remember well (correct me if wrong) suggests it performed well > 15m worldwide at the end of December / 4.5m (Jp) / around 4m for US according to GAF math / so it's something around 5.5m to 6.5m max for the rest of the world for 2011...


The reason people say that is because - month-for-month - in a few weeks, the DS is going to *explode*. Massively.

Sure, but it could be the same for the 3DS soon or later (or with a different pace), at least in Japan knowing that MH4 is coming as well as new Animal Crossing and a 2D Mario. Plus, we don't know too much about the new casual IP Nintendo has yet to announce (according to Iwata). I'm not saying 3DS will do it but why not ? It's a valid possibility, at least sales don't tell te opposite. We'll see after next christmas.
 
It's not that weird. Pushmo is charming, but no more so than the average iOS puzzler. The two Mario games are excellent but shortlived, unless you play MK7 online (which I don't). Revelations is one of those games that you'll either want, or not want. I fall into the 'not want' camp. And that's pretty much it. The rest of the library (barring Zelda) is shit I wouldn't give a second glance on any other console / handheld.

My 3DS is also gathering dust, with no end in sight. If someone offered me a decent trade-in for it, I'd probably let it go. It's a shame, because I love the 3D effect.

The post you quoted was in response to someone who hasn't played more than 45 minutes on the system in total.

Also, I disagree. I think the library is fairly healthy with plenty of promise on the horizon both near and far.
 
Oh yeah, Burntpork probably XD

Well it seems like everyone forgot Farnham. He was the original Burntpork. Then Burntpork stole his thunder and Farnham quietly snuck away. Farnham never got as extreme as Burntpork but he was pretty high up there claiming back in May 2011 that the 3DS would do worse than the Gamecube.
 
For comparison, the PS3 is only at approximately 7,830,550 units sold.

Remind me to link back to this thread the next time someone makes a "Where have all the Japanese console games gone?" thread.
Like others in the thread, this blew my mind.
I knew the numbers in a sense, but hadn't really put them side by side.
 

Alrus

Member
The reason people say that is because - month-for-month - in a few weeks, the DS is going to *explode*. Massively.

The DS launched in december so the lines will always cross when doing launch aligned graphs.. There's nothing to indicate that the 3DS won't have a killer 2012 holidays too.
 

jchap

Member
Bring on the 3DS lite. I'm ready for integrated dual analog and a better battery. Please take my money Nintendo
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
This is actually great news as it demonstrates that a market for dedicated handhelds still exists.
 
D

Deleted member 284

Unconfirmed Member
As if a handheld beating a console in sales is some big accomplishment.

I'm sorry, how long have the PS3 and 3DS been out on the market respectively? The point that you dismiss so quickly is that the PS3 really underperformed for the 5+ years it's been on the JP market compared to the explosion of growth that the 3DS had in one year. The $599 argument you might make, only highlights what a colossal misstep Sony took not only in initial pricing, but the actions they took to address the low sales in years afterwards.
 
As a 3DS owner, it's great to hear that the userbase has grown quickly as it means there should be adequate support from third parties again... I think I'd like to see some records broken in the West though, as Japanese companies are increasingly looking to make their money abroad these days. Looking at the UK charts in January, they could be doing a lot better on the software front -- RE:R is being criminally undervalued here in spite of the ad campaign.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
Why is PS3 being mainly used as a comparison to the 3DS? Wouldnt the Wii be a better comparison concidering that the Wii's pricetag is/has been much closer to the 3DS, and the Wii is also the most sold console in Japan in this generation.
 

liger05

Member
As a 3DS owner, it's great to hear that the userbase has grown quickly as it means there should be adequate support from third parties again... I think I'd like to see some records broken in the West though, as Japanese companies are increasingly looking to make their money abroad these days. Looking at the UK charts in January, they could be doing a lot better on the software front -- RE:R is being criminally undervalued here in spite of the ad campaign.

Ad campaign? When revelations came out capcom were more interested in pushing trailers for RE6. It was laughable!!
 
I'm sorry, how long have the PS3 and 3DS been out on the market respectively? The point that you dismiss so quickly is that the PS3 really underperformed for the 5+ years it's been on the JP market compared to the explosion of growth that the 3DS had in one year. The $599 argument you might make, only highlights what a colossal misstep Sony took not only in initial pricing, but the actions they took to address the low sales in years afterwards.

The 3DS is almost at half the LTD of the Wii after only 1 year. Did the Wii underperform? The 3DS is at a quarter of the PS2's sales after 1 year. Did the PS2 underperform? Forget the obvious pricing differences. Handhelds are more functional and can have upwards of 3 or 4+ units to one household. These comparisons are pointless. Compare them to other handhelds not consoles.
 

SteeloDMZ

Banned
It's not that weird. Pushmo is charming, but no more so than the average iOS puzzler. The two Mario games are excellent but shortlived, unless you play MK7 online (which I don't). Revelations is one of those games that you'll either want, or not want. I fall into the 'not want' camp. And that's pretty much it. The rest of the library (barring Zelda) is shit I wouldn't give a second glance on any other console / handheld.

My 3DS is also gathering dust, with no end in sight. If someone offered me a decent trade-in for it, I'd probably let it go. It's a shame, because I love the 3D effect.

Pushmo as "charming" as the average iOS game.

michael-jordan-laughing.gif


Instead of blaming the 3DS software as you desperately do in every 3DS thread, you should start questioning your tastes.
 
The 3DS is almost at half the LTD of the Wii after only 1 year. Did the Wii underperform? The 3DS is at a quarter of the PS2's sales after 1 year. Did the PS2 underperform? Forget the obvious pricing differences. Handhelds are more functional and can have upwards of 3 or 4+ units to one household. These comparisons are pointless. Compare them to other handhelds not consoles.

The comparison isn't pointless as it highlights the implication for games development. You omitted that part in your quote.
 
As a 3DS owner, it's great to hear that the userbase has grown quickly as it means there should be adequate support from third parties again... I think I'd like to see some records broken in the West though, as Japanese companies are increasingly looking to make their money abroad these days. Looking at the UK charts in January, they could be doing a lot better on the software front -- RE:R is being criminally undervalued here in spite of the ad campaign.

Revelations shipped pretty low. People have widely reported some issues trying to find it in US, UK, Europe, and Japan. I also have to ask as to what Revelations ad campaign? I don't live there but from what I've heard it's non-existant. It was fairly non-existant in the US too from my experience but I could be wrong.
 
Bring on the 3DS lite. I'm ready for integrated dual analog and a better battery. Please take my money Nintendo

Revelations shipped pretty low. People have widely reported some issues trying to find it in US, UK, Europe, and Japan. I also have to ask as to what Revelations ad campaign? I don't live there but from what I've heard it's non-existant. It was fairly non-existant in the US too from my experience but I could be wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g9PcS4oOHw

This is on pretty much every hour or so on UK television. There's also a live action one.

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it isn't there.
 

18-Volt

Member
Amazing Nintendo, you successfully got Capcom to have a megaton game for 3DS and it's really paid off.

Now, get Square to make Final Fantasy XV 3DS exclusive and we're done here. Oh, and let Level-5 handle it.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Amazing Nintendo, you successfully got Capcom to have a megaton game for 3DS and it's really paid off.

Now, get Square to make Final Fantasy XV 3DS exclusive and we're done here. Oh, and let Level-5 handle it.

Seaman is a good start, no?!?
 

KageMaru

Member
Congrats Nintendo, I love how they do their own thing and still pull through. I really want them to do well with both the 3DS and Wii-U.
 

mclem

Member
The DS launched in december so the lines will always cross when doing launch aligned graphs.. There's nothing to indicate that the 3DS won't have a killer 2012 holidays too.

It's not the holidays I'm thinking of, it's the Nintendogs + Lite double-whammy.

It's not impossible that something similar could happen for the 3DS, but if there *is*, it'll come out of nowhere.
 
It's not that weird. Pushmo is charming, but no more so than the average iOS puzzler. The two Mario games are excellent but shortlived, unless you play MK7 online (which I don't). Revelations is one of those games that you'll either want, or not want. I fall into the 'not want' camp. And that's pretty much it. The rest of the library (barring Zelda) is shit I wouldn't give a second glance on any other console / handheld.

My 3DS is also gathering dust, with no end in sight. If someone offered me a decent trade-in for it, I'd probably let it go. It's a shame, because I love the 3D effect.

One of the guys above makes light of your comments and attacks you for them, but I do sympathise... I've personally loved the likes of Pushmo, SML3D and RE:R - but I definitely want to see more titles and more varied titles on the system.

There needs to be an added breadth to the library so that if the few big titles don't do anything for you, there's still some way you can derive enjoyment from the machine. There's definitely room for improvement.

I do think it's definitely a better start than Nintendo DS though. By this point in the DS' life, the system had only had these notable titles:

Feel the Magic
Daigasso Band Bros (JP only - Jam with the Band didn't come out in the West until 2008!)
Ridge Racer DS
Wario Ware Touched
Pokemon Dash
Yoshi Touch & Go
Rayman DS
Polarium
Kirby Canvas Curse
Meteos
Nanostray
Osu! Tatake! Ouendan (JP - Elite Beat Agents didn't come out until Nov 2006, 2 years after launch)
Jump Superstars (JP)
Nintendogs
Trauma Center
Phoenix Wright
Metroid Prime Pinball​

with Mario Kart DS coming at around the year mark. If I could take anything from that lineup for 3DS, it would be more puzzlers like Meteos and Polarium, and a game as good as Trauma Center / Phoenix Wright / Ouendan.

Otherwise this console, at around 11 months has had:

3D Classics: Excite Bike, Xevious, Urban Champion, Twinbee, Kirby's Adventure
Ridge Racer 3D
Rayman 3D (Rayman 2)
Passable and decent-to-good versions of Pro Evo and FIFA
Nintendogs + Cats
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D
Pilotwings Resort
Dead or Alive: Dimensions
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
Ocarina of Time 3D
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries
Starfox 64 3D
Bit.Trip SAGA (might not be notable to some, but Bit.Trip runner on the go = awesome)
Tetris Axis (again might not be notable to some, but DS didn't get Tetris until mid way through its second year)
Pokemon Rumble Blast
Cave Story 3D
Super Mario 3D Land
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy
Sonic Generations
Mario Kart 7
Nano Assault
Pushmo
Swapnote / Nintendo Letter Box
VVVVVV
Mutant Mudds
Resident Evil: Revelations
New Love Plus
Tales of the Abyss
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Tekken 3D Prime Edition
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (JP)
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D​

It's a testament to how the market competition has improved and how far our expectations have grown that people actually consider that a crap lineup.
 

Bruno MB

Member
I would also love to see a main Final Fantasy game for 3DS.

Unfortunately that would be a huge mistake from Square Enix since it's a franchise that most of its sales comes from the Western market. An we all know that this market rejects this kind of experiences, people just don't want to play these games on a portable machine. That's why we've had Dragon Quest IX on NDS and we'll probably have a future Dragon Quest XI for 3DS while we'll never see an hypothetic Final Fantasy XV o XVI for a portable system.
 

Sheikh

Banned
boom

wasnt some analyst saying that APPLE OVERPRICED PHONE/smartphones would kill handheld gaming? just went to EBGAMES last night here in toronto. Apparently lots of preorder for the PSVITA too
 

jrDev

Member
It's not that weird. Pushmo is charming, but no more so than the average iOS puzzler.
Hmm, that's a weird rationalization. The 'average' iOS puzzler is bad and I love iOS gaming (Cut the Rope is fantastic but that's not an average puzzler, it's way above average). It is a rationalization to help your post though, if you think it is really helping. As far as people will see it, that's a huge knock against Pushmo...
 

Jackano

Member
I would also love to see a main Final Fantasy game for 3DS.

Unfortunately that would be a huge mistake from Square Enix since it's a franchise that most of its sales comes from the Western market. An we all know that this market rejects this kind of experiences, people just don't want to play these games on a portable machine. That's why we've had Dragon Quest IX on NDS and we'll probably have a future Dragon Quest XI for 3DS while we'll never see an hypothetic Final Fantasy XV o XVI for a portable system.

I'm not sure about that. US market maybe, but here in Europe, many Final Fantasy fans I know already have a 3DS and are anticipating Kingdom Hearts. They also enjoyed DraQue IX and I think if the next FF mainline game end to be on 3DS, they will follow the movement. And if the user installed base is big enought, I see no reason for the game to perform less than FFXIII or FFXIII-2. But my bet, full multi-platform on home consoles.
 

Fredrik

Member
Well deserved. Fantastic system.
The back compatibility with DS was oddly enough what took it from okay to awesome for me. Never had a DS so I never had any problem waiting for the top games to arrive.
 

Torraz

Member
Wonderful news, especially as this shows that there still are alternatives to smartphone portable gaming.

Personally I'm waiting for some good JRPGs and then, as an EU gamer, I will have to make a hard decision which region to go with...
 
They threw everything but pokemon at the market. Of course it was going to explode. The question is, will it maintain software sales and for how long.
And the fact that they had to throw mario kart, another mario platformer AND a hundred dollar price drop all at once to get the boost that they wanted is not a means for celebration for Nintendo. 4 years ago, they didn't have to do that for the Wii, now they do. They never had to sell a system at a loss before, now they do. It's good to have that option, but it's never good to have to use it, and it's not a well that you can dip into repeatedly...neither is mario kart or more mario. (Or at least, those are not games Nintendo prefers to dip into too often)
 

SteeloDMZ

Banned
What's the next game to maintain (even increase) 3DS sales in Japan?

Kingdom Hearts 3D? If so, they have nothing to worry about. KH does extremely well on Nintendo platforms even in NA.
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
They threw everything but pokemon at the market. Of course it was going to explode. The question is, will it maintain software sales and for how long.
And the fact that they had to throw mario kart, another mario platformer AND a hundred dollar price drop all at once to get the boost that they wanted is not a means for celebration for Nintendo. 4 years ago, they didn't have to do that for the Wii, now they do. They never had to sell a system at a loss before, now they do. It's good to have that option, but it's never good to have to use it, and it's not a well that you can dip into repeatedly...neither is mario kart or more mario. (Or at least, those are not games Nintendo prefers to dip into too often)

Umm those were all planned anyway, this wasn't due to the poor sales....
 
What's the next game to maintain (even increase) 3DS sales in Japan?

Kingdom Hearts 3D? If so, they have nothing to worry about. KH does extremely well on Nintendo platforms even in NA.

Animal Crossing. They better hurry up and get something, ANYTHING first party out that isn't Kid Icarus. (No offence Sakurai)
 

Emitan

Member
Umm those were all planned anyway, this wasn't due to the poor sales....

Mario Kart was rushed to market. Not that you can tell. They brought in 2 more teams to help finish it (though I think Retro just contributed some art assets for a few stages).
 

Famassu

Member
Feel the Magic
Daigasso Band Bros (JP only - Jam with the Band didn't come out in the West until 2008!)

Actually, it was released in Europe in 2010 (and was a localized version of the sequel, Daigasso! Band Brothers DX). It never saw a US release. Yeah, it basically took 6 fuckin' years for Nintendo to bother localizing what was probably their best launch title. Sometimes I just hate Nintendo. -__-;​
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
Mario Kart was rushed to market. Not that you can tell. They brought in 2 more teams to help finish it (though I think Retro just contributed some art assets for a few stages).

It was rushed for Christmas, but it had been announced for a while. It just simply would have come a bit later.
 

Hale-XF11

Member
It's a testament to how the market competition has improved and how far our expectations have grown that people actually consider that a crap lineup.
Your post certainly puts things into perspective. The 3DS, despite its rocky start, has a fairly impressive line-up at this point, even in light of our growing expectations.
 
Mr. B Natural said:
They threw everything but pokemon at the market. Of course it was going to explode. The question is, will it maintain software sales and for how long.
And the fact that they had to throw mario kart, another mario platformer AND a hundred dollar price drop all at once to get the boost that they wanted is not a means for celebration for Nintendo. 4 years ago, they didn't have to do that for the Wii, now they do. They never had to sell a system at a loss before, now they do.
Mario Kart DS launched around a year into the DS' life, Mario Kart 7 came roughly 9 months into 3DS' life. Not really a lot of difference.

DS launched with Mario 64, so it had a mario game day-one, and NSMB released a year and a half into its life. The equivalent time frame would be September this year for 3DS.

They've sold systems at a loss before, they just traditionally avoid it. They've already said (in January) that 3DS will be profitable in the first half of the coming fiscal year, starting in April... so - obviously while they've given up money to give the 3DS a lift, it's not a longterm loss that they've taken on.
 

Famassu

Member
They threw everything but pokemon at the market. Of course it was going to explode. The question is, will it maintain software sales and for how long.
And the fact that they had to throw mario kart, another mario platformer AND a hundred dollar price drop all at once to get the boost that they wanted is not a means for celebration for Nintendo. 4 years ago, they didn't have to do that for the Wii, now they do. They never had to sell a system at a loss before, now they do. It's good to have that option, but it's never good to have to use it, and it's not a well that you can dip into repeatedly...neither is mario kart or more mario. (Or at least, those are not games Nintendo prefers to dip into too often)
I really don't think the kind of price cut 3DS got would've been necessary for sales to pick up. With the three Big Ones, 3DS would've sold like gangbusters even with a more moderate price cut or even without a price cut at all.


That said, Nintendo overpriced the device from the start, so that backfiring isn't a surprise. They weren't even going to price it that high, but 3DS got such a great reception at E3 2010 and they were ridin' the high wave after DS & Wii's huge success, so they thought they could get away with overpricing their products like they were Apple. Of course it turned out they couldn't, especially with no Marios or Pokemons at launch to make it a must buy for a large part of Nintendo fanbase.
 
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