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3DS breaks 10 million sold in Japan after 98 weeks

nickcv

Member
So this is THE year, Nintendo will finally buy Japan.

b7N3A.jpg
 

Datschge

Member
No, you don't get get. Monster Hunter was the only reason for PSP revival in Japan. Without it history would be different.

PSP's (and as such late DS') history of software sales most certainly. What one needs to keep in mind though is that PSP even without software sales managed very steady hardware sales, somewhat similar to early PS2. Both PS3 and even more so Vita have no such luck, Sony hardware no longer sells by itself anymore.
 

coughlanio

Member
Well done to Nintendo. Hopefully is starts picking up outside of Japan. I think that the closer Nintendo can get the system to the $/£100 mark, the better.

3DS at £99.99 would be the sweet spot, especially with Pokémon officially coming.

The fact you can get an XL for £142 right now, with 2 free games is pretty great though (3D Land pre-installed, and another free with the XL offer).
 

saichi

Member
Enterbrain just announced it via Famitsu. 10,068,192 sold as of 1/6/13.

Dotted bars: weekly sales number
Line: cumulative sales number
4Fk8e.jpg


http://www.famitsu.com/news/201301/08026978.html

The definition for Dotted Bar and Line are reversed.

Don't forget Dragon Quest 7. I think it's going to be as big as the next Pokemon release.

joke post?

Pokemon X/Y will sell in 12 hours in Japan more than what Dragon Quest 7 remake will sell in its lifetime worldwide.

sounds about right. Pokemon X/Y will easily outsell the original DQ7, not to mention this remake.
 

jcm

Member
But tablets and smartphones.

I wonder if Pachter will acknowledge this at all.

What kind of acknowledgement do you want? The 3DS is absolutely killing it in Japan, and that's not enough to make up for its poor performance in the rest of the world. The global market for gaming handhelds has shrunk dramatically.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
What kind of acknowledgement do you want? The 3DS is absolutely killing it in Japan, and that's not enough to make up for its poor performance in the rest of the world. The global market for gaming handhelds has shrunk dramatically.

If the following will be true (and would not be the first time, but the contrary): "According to EEADRs and Morgans prediction 3DS handily outsold PS3 by some hundred thousand units last month in USA" I'm still not sure what Gaf mean with poor sales (considering also the positive PAL sales they got after the XL launch)
 

m.i.s.

Banned
"According to EEADRs and Morgans prediction 3DS handily outsold PS3 by some hundred thousand units last month in USA" I'm still not sure what Gaf mean with poor sales (considering also the positive PAL sales they got after the XL launch)

Software? In the UK, for example, you'll get only get 3D Land, Kart 7 and NSMB2 charting [often in the bottom half of the Top 40] with any kind of consistency. I'd expect the software situation to be similar in other Western countries if not as extreme as the UK.

On the specific issue of XL, it did less than 10,000 units on it's first week of sale in the UK. In contrast, the original 3DS had set a new sales record for a Nintendo platform [home or portable].
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Software? In the UK, for example, you'll get only get 3D Land, Kart 7 and NSMB2 charting [often in the bottom half of the Top 40] with any kind of consistency. I'd expect the software situation to be similar in other Western countries if not as extreme as the UK.

On the specific issue of XL, it did less than 10,000 units on it's first week of sale in the UK. In contrast, the original 3DS had set a new sales record for a Nintendo platform [home or portable].

We were talking about poor performance overall, not software specific. Software-wise the portable market has few hits in the West, I agree. Almost all on the 3DS it seems.
But despite that the console is not performing poorly as previously stated.
Plus, the XL sold poorly in its UK weekend debut, but look at the overall performances of the consoles in the PAL market after its release and you'll find out that sold a lot of pieces. Should we post the charts every time? If so, ask MPL90 to do it for us.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Software? In the UK, for example, you'll get only get 3D Land, Kart 7 and NSMB2 charting [often in the bottom half of the Top 40] with any kind of consistency. I'd expect the software situation to be similar in other Western countries if not as extreme as the UK.

On the specific issue of XL, it did less than 10,000 units on it's first week of sale in the UK. In contrast, the original 3DS had set a new sales record for a Nintendo platform [home or portable].

It's strange you don't remember the graphs for overall Europe from Nintendo...very strange. :p
It's true 3DS did 15k (10k XL + 5k OG) in UK, but in overall Europe it did 92k. With 3DS XL available for one / two days, with no NSMB2 at launch. And then it has been the best selling console during August, and it did good in September / early October, the slowest period for handheld sales. During the Summer, we in Europe saw KH3D being quite high in many charts for many weeks, and even Harvest Moon ( the DS bugged port) had a good debut in the only European country where Harvest Moon games sell, Germany.
And in the end, it's been ages that UK charts and other European countries charts showed very different situations. Even Irish charts, that usually reflect UK trends, are different in this sense.

EDIT: Here's the graph Nuas ( I mean, Aostia) was referring to

10l.jpg
 

jcm

Member
If the following will be true (and would not be the first time, but the contrary): "According to EEADRs and Morgans prediction 3DS handily outsold PS3 by some hundred thousand units last month in USA" I'm still not sure what Gaf mean with poor sales (considering also the positive PAL sales they got after the XL launch)

First of all, I can't speak for GAF, but I can tell you what I mean by poor sales. I mean that the 3DS continues to miss sales forecasts, even though Nintendo continues to lower them, and is might well still be a money loser for Nintendo. I mean that the 3DS is selling much worse than the previous model, with no sign of this trend abating. I mean that its software sales are absolutely abysmal, while its hardware sales are just weak.

I don't know what happened in the US in December yet, and I find basing discussions on some analyst's guess stupid, but even so: if the market leading gaming handheld, in the prime of its life, managed to outsell a long-in-the-tooth also-ran home console by 100K units, I won't be terribly impressed.

I do know what happened in the US in November. Have a look at the NPD November handheld market, and tell me again you don't know what I mean by poor sales:

Code:
November 2005
NDS   -  369K
GBA   -  820K
PSP   -  353K
Total - 1542K

November 2006
NDS   -  918K
GBA   -  641K
PSP   -  412K
Total - 1971K

November 2007
NDS   - 1530K
PSP   -  567K 
Total - 2097K

November 2008
NDS   - 1570K
PSP   -  421K
Total - 1991K

November 2009
NDS   - 1700K
PSP   -  294K
Total - 1994K

November 2010
NDS   - 1500K
PSP   -  288K
Total - 1788K

November 2011
NDS   -  350K
3DS   -  795K
PSP   - ?
Total - ?

November 2012
NDS   -  370K
3DS   -  540K
PSV   - ~220K
Total - 1130K
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
First of all, I can't speak for GAF, but I can tell you what I mean by poor sales. I mean that the 3DS continues to miss sales forecasts, even though Nintendo continues to lower them, and is might well still be a money loser for Nintendo. I mean that the 3DS is selling much worse than the previous model, with no sign of this trend abating. I mean that its software sales are absolutely abysmal, while its hardware sales are just weak.

I don't know what happened in the US in December yet, and I find basing discussions on some analyst's guess stupid, but even so: if the market leading gaming handheld, in the prime of its life, managed to outsell a long-in-the-tooth also-ran home console by 100K units, I won't be terribly impressed.

I do know what happened in the US in November. Have a look at the NPD November handheld market, and tell me again you don't know what I mean by poor sales:

Code:
November 2005
NDS   -  369K
GBA   -  820K
PSP   -  353K
Total - 1542K

November 2006
NDS   -  918K
GBA   -  641K
PSP   -  412K
Total - 1971K

November 2007
NDS   - 1530K
PSP   -  567K 
Total - 2097K

November 2008
NDS   - 1570K
PSP   -  421K
Total - 1991K

November 2009
NDS   - 1700K
PSP   -  294K
Total - 1994K

November 2010
NDS   - 1500K
PSP   -  288K
Total - 1788K

November 2011
NDS   -  350K
3DS   -  795K
PSP   - ?
Total - ?

November 2012
NDS   -  370K
3DS   -  540K
PSV   - ~220K
Total - 1130K



Yes, November was a bad months for the 3DS in US.
especially due to DS great black friday deals (in fact it sold poooorly during Black Friday, while it performed way better during the other weeks of the month)
Almost every other month of the year was good instead. Let's wait and see for Dec numbers.
If you take a look at those portable numbers, you can easily see that the main problems compared to the previous years are PSP and Vita numbers.

I agree that they are missing forecast and I think that this is the biggest problem, while it's not true that the 3DS is behind the previous console launches-aligned in the US (I don't know in the PAL territories), and it's not true that it's performing badly in PAL countries (despite the low debut of the XL in the UK) and I don't think that after the launch of the XL Nintendo isn't making money from the project.

About software is a tough topic: I don't think that the actual possible sellers are performing badly on the actual install base, but it's true that there are few games able to appeal the western market.
Despite that, the "potential" seller seem able to sell decently and to help the console to make good overall numbers, also if not great numbers as the DS in its hottest years or the 3DS itself in the Japanese market.

3DS could be at the end of 2012 the best selling console worldwide, being slighlty behind the Xbox360 in the US, slighlty behind PS3 in the PAL countries and the best console in the Japanese market. I would not call it "poor sales". There is not only black or white in terms of market penetration.
 

jcm

Member
If you take a look at those portable numbers, you can easily see that the main problems compared to the previous years are PSP and Vita numbers.

No, I don't see that at all. I see the Vita selling 400K less than the PSP's best November. The 3DS sold 1M less than the DS sold in three straight years. The PSP has never done well in the US, so the Vita's awful sales aren't the main problem.

I agree that they are missing forecast and I think that this is the biggest problem, while it's not true that the 3DS is behind the previous console launches-aligned in the US (I don't know in the PAL territories), and it's not true that it's performing badly in PAL countries (despite the low debut of the XL in the UK) and I don't think that after the launch of the XL Nintendo isn't making money from the project.

They keep lowering the forecast, and they keep missing it anyway. How is that not "poor"? Which adjective would you chose to describe it?

About software is a tough topic: I don't think that the actual possible sellers are performing badly on the actual install base, but it's true that there are few games able to appeal the western market.
Despite that, the "potential" seller seem able to sell decently and to help the console to make good overall numbers, also if not great numbers as the DS in its hottest years or the 3DS itself in the Japanese market.

The software sales are bad. They are down 25% compared to the DS at a comparable point in the lifespan.

3DS software TTM: 47M from quarter ending Sep 2012
NDS software TTM: 63M from quarter ending June 2006
 

Claymores

Banned
First of all, I can't speak for GAF, but I can tell you what I mean by poor sales. I mean that the 3DS continues to miss sales forecasts, even though Nintendo continues to lower them, and is might well still be a money loser for Nintendo. I mean that the 3DS is selling much worse than the previous model, with no sign of this trend abating. I mean that its software sales are absolutely abysmal, while its hardware sales are just weak.

I don't know what happened in the US in December yet, and I find basing discussions on some analyst's guess stupid, but even so: if the market leading gaming handheld, in the prime of its life, managed to outsell a long-in-the-tooth also-ran home console by 100K units, I won't be terribly impressed.

I do know what happened in the US in November. Have a look at the NPD November handheld market, and tell me again you don't know what I mean by poor sales:

Code:
November 2005
NDS   -  369K
GBA   -  820K
PSP   -  353K
Total - 1542K

November 2006
NDS   -  918K
GBA   -  641K
PSP   -  412K
Total - 1971K

November 2007
NDS   - 1530K
PSP   -  567K 
Total - 2097K

November 2008
NDS   - 1570K
PSP   -  421K
Total - 1991K

November 2009
NDS   - 1700K
PSP   -  294K
Total - 1994K

November 2010
NDS   - 1500K
PSP   -  288K
Total - 1788K

November 2011
NDS   -  350K
3DS   -  795K
PSP   - ?
Total - ?

November 2012
NDS   -  370K
3DS   -  540K
PSV   - ~220K
Total - 1130K

Your not to bright all I see there is the 3DS out performing the NDS in the same period and the Vita floping.

Generation change and Vita flop does not=market crashing.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
The software sales are bad. They are down 25% compared to the DS at a comparable point in the lifespan.

3DS software TTM: 47M from quarter ending Sep 2012
NDS software TTM: 63M from quarter ending June 2006

About software, I remember Frankfurter did a better comparison with datas from launch, and still, you can't just see the raw numbers. You need to see how it is composed. Main example: 3DS software sales are around 15 millions behind DS ones in Japan as of last week, but third party sales are higher (7 v.s. 9), so...yeah, Nintendo games are the main responsible for the lower software sales in Japan by far, because they released far less titles and the "casual" ones aren't doing like on DS at all, and since after seven quarters titles like Brain Training, Nintendogs got released in West too, I can certainly expand this to worldwide software sales.
 

evangd007

Member
Something something smartphones something something dedicated gaming handhelds something something Japan

What most don't realize is that gaming phones have been in Japan since forever. Nintendo handhelds have not only survived under such circumstances, but flourished.


So if you are Nintendo, are these numbers going to satisfy you?

Will Nintendo become so region-reliant that they eventually ignore the rest of the world and only concentrate on Japan?

As a market segment? No. However I do see the possibility of Nintendo attempting to lock down Japanese support on their hardware while ceding Western support to largely to Microsoft and Sony, with the exceptions of Activision and Ubisoft. Western publishers by and large never have wanted or will want to work with Nintendo.
 

jcm

Member
Your not to bright all I see there is the 3DS out performing the NDS in the same period and the Vita floping.

Generation change and Vita flop does not=market crashing.

Are you joking?

About software, I remember Frankfurter did a better comparison with datas from launch, and still, you can't just see the raw numbers. You need to see how it is composed. Main example: 3DS software sales are around 15 millions behind DS ones in Japan as of last week, but third party sales are higher (7 v.s. 9), so...yeah, Nintendo games are the main responsible for the lower software sales in Japan by far, because they released far less titles and the "casual" ones aren't doing like on DS at all, and since after seven quarters titles like Brain Training, Nintendogs got released in West too, I can certainly expand this to worldwide software sales.

That is Frankfurter's data. I agreed that his comparison was better than mine. And I don't see why you can't look at the raw numbers. You are explaining the raw numbers, which is fine, but that doesn't change the fact that there's a bunch of units that aren't being sold, and consequently a bunch of money that isn't being made.
 

QaaQer

Member
First of all, I can't speak for GAF, but I can tell you what I mean by poor sales.

**snip**

Nintendo pushing 1559k in 07 vs 910k in 12, is a 42% drop, add to that lower attach rates, mishandling of the wii's last 2 years, and the poor transition to next gen; and these numbers become more understandable:

qq_zps60d0596a.jpg


Untitled-8_zps81a3a47a.jpg


Even though Nintendo is 'winning' this generation of handhelds and dominating Japan, their financials don't look promising without a change in strategy.
 

Persona86

Banned
How big is the Pokemon series in the West versus the East?

It was bigger (to general population) in the past if we consider the Pokemon cards phase, everyone in my school was obsessed over collecting Pokemon Cards, some people got stabbed around my area because they had a rare card, crazy shit.

Which reminds me there was also HUGE wrestling phase in my school, people doing wrestling moves every chance they get, I distinctly remember doing a double suplex onto a table in my science class, while the teacher was yelling at people to sit down and another time someone smashed my head through a plastic window haha.

But the New Pokemon will surely be popular.
 

Tenki

Member
It was bigger (to general population) in the past if we consider the Pokemon cards phase, everyone in my school was obsessed over collecting Pokemon Cards, some people got stabbed around my area because they had a rare card, crazy shit.

But the New Pokemon will surely be popular.

Pokémon is serious business.
 

Persona86

Banned
Pokémon is serious business.

I'm not sure how many got stabbed, it might be one or two, it's a vague memory, but a LOT of people got mugged/robbed for them, usually at knife point. After the phase was over, it was mostly mobile phones they were after.
 

Laguna

Banned
Looking at this great result for 3DS, a question is still there, why is PSV such a huge failure compared to PSPs first year in a handheld loving market?
 

SmokyDave

Member
Looking at this great result for 3DS, a question is still there, why is PSV such a huge failure compared to PSPs first year in a handheld loving market?
They have no first party system sellers and the only hopes they had at relevance slipped through their fingers when MonHun and Dragon Quest went to the 3DS.

As I understand it.
 

Cipherr

Member
3DS is off to the races at this point. It may not match the best selling system of all time (DS) but its crystal clear that it will be extremely profitable and have a normal lifespan.
 

Laguna

Banned
They have no first party system sellers and the only hopes they had at relevance slipped through their fingers when MonHun and Dragon Quest went to the 3DS.

As I understand it.

I´m refering to PSPs (and PSVs) first year. Of course these mentioned games are systemsellers but PSP had neither a DQ game nor MH has been huge back in the day.

after a bit more than a year it looked like this
PSP 2,682,962 (week52 2005)
PSV ~1,000,000 (week52 2012)
 
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