Topic: Nintendo 3DS U.S. Sales Reach 4.5 Million

[Patchkid15]

The 3DS doubles the Nintendo DS' first year sales.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29457

Nintendo 3DS reached 4.5 million units sold in the U.S. during its first year, according to Nintendo of America.

Since its US launch, the Nintendo 3DS has sold twice as many units as its predecessor, the Nintendo DS. The 4.5 million units of hardware sold throughout the country are also joined by over 9 million units of software sold.

Nintendo credits some of the system's success to its record-breaking titles like Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, as well as some of its other content, such as Netflix and Nintendo Video. The 3DS also boasts a rather large lineup of retail games. Over 100 titles are currently available; the Nintendo DS had only 58 during its first year.

"With a massive lineup of first- and third-party games and more on the way, a budding library of entertainment options and an engaged and growing installed base, Nintendo 3DS has an incredibly bright future," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime noted.

[Chocobo_Rider]

DOOOOOOOOOOM3D!!

3D?! More like 3rD party, am-i-right??

ahh, most articles on the 3DS from other websites still can't talk about the thing without opening with some kind of "despite a rocky start blah blah blah."  I imagine we'll still be hearing that rubbish until the 4DS comes out (time travel confirmed!).

Funny how worse numbers don't seem to be raining on the Vita parade the way they darkened the 3DS' early days... oh well.  We live and learn... and... some of them never learn. =P

[Caterkiller]

Funny how worse numbers don't seem to be raining on the Vita parade the way they darkened the 3DS' early days... oh well. 

Of course not because the industry has it out for Nintendo. The industry hates Nintendo!     The journalist side of it anyway.


Let the chaos begin.


The 4DS with a proper launch should be able to whip both the DS and 3DS considering the slow starts they both got.

[Chozo Ghost]

And yet the 3DS is being neglected in the COD and Madden department. Activision and EA need to get their act together and start supporting the 3DS like it deserves. The Vita is getting these games, and the Vita hasn't sold worth a crap. It makes no sense.

[yoshi1001]

  I imagine we'll still be hearing that rubbish until the 4DS comes out (time travel confirmed!).

Nah, Nintendo'll pull an N64 and jump straight to string theory DS.

[Chocobo_Rider]

  I imagine we'll still be hearing that rubbish until the 4DS comes out (time travel confirmed!).

Nah, Nintendo'll pull an N64 and jump straight to string theory DS.

lol!

[broodwars]

Funny how worse numbers don't seem to be raining on the Vita parade the way they darkened the 3DS' early days... oh well.  We live and learn... and... some of them never learn. =P

Are you kidding?  You have to look pretty hard to find a favorable outlook on the Vita right now from pretty much anyone in the press, especially when it comes to the device's sales in Japan.  It seems to be universally accepted that the handheld's launch was weak (and even weaker in Japan), and that the mandatory memory cards are ridiculously overpriced.  If anything, the 3DS' weak launch and first few months have made people even more down on the Vita from what I've seen.

That said, I am with Chozo on one thing: why aren't Madden and Call of Duty being made on the 3DS?  Both EA and Activision make their living porting their products to everything under the sun so long as it can make a profit.  I suppose having to support the Circle Pad Pro might be holding back Call of Duty on 3DS until Nintendo makes the accessory part of the standard design with the inevitable hardware revision.  But I don't understand EA's reluctance with their sports franchises.

[TJ Spyke]

Unless a game ends up requiring the Circle Pad Pro (which so far none out or announced do), then there is slim chance of it being part of a 3DS redesign. I am a little surprised that 3DS won't get some version of Madden this year, I suppose their is still time for COD (last year the 3DS was stilling not selling that great at the time that a COD game for November would have been in development).

[Chozo Ghost]

The fact the circle pad pro accessory even exists at all is reason enough for it to be integrated into the 3DS in a future revision.

(last year the 3DS was stilling not selling that great at the time that a COD game for November would have been in development).

I wouldn't have a problem with that argument, except that COD has already been announced for the Vita which has sold even worse. How do you account for that? I think broodwars is right because COD is the sort of game which REALLY depends on dual analog. In other games it can just be optional, but in the FPS genre its required. And that's another reason why CPP must be integrated, because without that the 3DS can never amount to a decent FPS system.

[ejamer]

Funny how worse numbers don't seem to be raining on the Vita parade the way they darkened the 3DS' early days... oh well.  We live and learn... and... some of them never learn. =P

Are you kidding?  You have to look pretty hard to find a favorable outlook on the Vita right now from pretty much anyone in the press, especially when it comes to the device's sales in Japan.  It seems to be universally accepted that the handheld's launch was weak (and even weaker in Japan), and that the mandatory memory cards are ridiculously overpriced.  If anything, the 3DS' weak launch and first few months have made people even more down on the Vita from what I've seen.

...

I don't know. A lot of reports that I read from gaming websites still view the Vita positively (awesome hardware with best launch software ever, surprisingly hasn't taken off) and the 3DS with mild derision (mildly successful, but what do you expect after Nintendo is forced to slash prices nearly in half... still doesn't have games).


I think both portable consoles are pretty exciting right now though.  Vita had me worried about pricing, but has had some aggressive software sales that partly make up for that.  It still doesn't have games that appeal to me, but even 3DS has just started getting retail titles that I want... so give Vita some time and see what happens.


Interesting point that the rough start for 3DS has made people skeptical about Vita though.  I would think that, if anything, the recent success of 3DS would encourage people who feel the Vita is currently under-performing.

The fact the circle pad pro accessory even exists at all is reason enough for it to be integrated into the 3DS in a future revision.

I believed that more before seeing just how packed the 3DS innards already are.  Trade small size for a second analog input?  I'll take portability, thanks... especially since FPS games aren't a big draw for me.

[UncleBob]

All this talk about how the 3DS can't do FPS seems to ignore the successful CoD ports already on the DS.

Seems to me, the only thing that really held these titles back is A) the DS is kiddah and B) the graphics, due to system limitations, weren't top notch.

The way the games controlled seemed to get a lot of praise.

[Chocobo_Rider]

@broodwars

Yea... that was .... tough .... ?

http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/?t=PSP
http://www.destructoid.com/ps-vita-sells-600-000-in-the-west-1-2-million-worldwide-222869.phtml
"This is a bit more like it. The PS Vita might be dragging its feet in Japan, but its Western launch has definitely helped matters, adding another 600,000 sales to the overall figure for a grand worldwide total of 1.2 million. You know it's a good figure, because Sony didn't say "shipped" like it usually does! ... Hopefully the Vita keeps this momentum going. The better it sells, the more inventive publishers have to keep pumping it full of games. I'm taking any excuse to keep my Vita switched on, so the more support it gets, the better."

http://www.joystiq.com/vita/
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/04/see-how-the-vitas-first-week-sales-stack-up-in-this-handy-infog/
"If anything, it proves that tastes vary widely by region, and that relatively low first-week sales (see: PSP sales in Japan) don't necessarily translate to poor lifetime performance."

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/02/so-far-so-good-why-the-vita-rises-where-the-psp-fell/
"Sony appears to have a much better foundation in place than they did with the PSP. The online store in particular has potential to put the Vita well ahead of its primary rivals, and open the floodgates for a huge array of cheap, easy to acquire games.

As for me, whenever I sit down and watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, I soon find myself playing either Rayman or Super Stardust Delta. And seeing as I hadn't planned to buy any games at all as recently as a week ago, I think that's a victory for Sony."

http://kotaku.com/5889018/sony-sells-12m-playstation-vitas-worldwide
"Four days after its release on U.S. shores, the PlayStation Vita passed the one million sales mark worldwide."

http://vita.ign.com/articles/121/1219656p1.html
This is the most well-rounded, realistic article.  It opens with addressing the very fact ejamer and I mentioned: that despite worse sales, the Vita is largely being written about as a success by the media, while the 3DS was written about as a flop.  Ultimately, the article merely goes on to explain why that double standard is valid and acceptable. Short answer: prior expectations.  Gimme a break.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1220234p1.html
Only article I could find that makes Vita look like it's in trouble.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/playstation-vita-global-sales-exceed-12-million-units-6351171
"Sony reveals sales of new portable have surpassed internal expectations, roughly half sold outside Japan; software sales climb to 2 million units."

~~~

So, where are the predictions that Sony must surely go third party?  Why are there not numerous admissions that the 3DS they proclaimed dead performed better?

When possible, I linked to the full Vita coverage of the site... feel free to look over all the other articles for said examples of doom, gloom, or at least pessimism/disappointment!

[broodwars]

So, where are the predictions that Sony must surely go third party?

Jesus Christ, I'm sick of this particular whining complaint.  Every time I see someone post it, it reminds me of youtube videos of little children throwing hissy fits like this.  Get this through your skull: the reason why no one says this is because so many people were financially wrong to say that about Nintendo, and they all looked like fools with the Wii.  Plus, there weren't articles stating that until after Nintendo had failed 3 times in a row to secure market share with the N64, GameCube, and Virtual Boy.

Personally, I wish Nintendo had gone 3rd party...

Yes, yes..."blasphemy"..."you'll burn in hell"..."**** you"...whatever...

..., not for financial reasons but for creative ones.  I haven't liked Nintendo the hardware company in quite a few years.  I used to like Nintendo the software company, the company that produced some amazing games the likes of which I'd never seen before.  I don't like what the hardware side has done to their creative software side, with their emphasis on gimmicks for the sheer purpose of creating software to justify gimmicks rather than create hardware to support their software.  But I'm sure I'm in the minority on that.

When possible, I linked to the full Vita coverage of the site... feel free to look over all the other articles for said examples of doom, gloom, or at least pessimism/disappointment!

I don't have to (especially since the vast majority of news coverage you posted focused on the NA launch, ignored the JP sales, and also ignored the favorable launch sales news for the 3DS when it released).  You see, unlike you I actually read and listen to articles and podcasts outside Nintendo-only coverage and news I want to hear.  You would especially know not to take anything Jim Sterling of Destructoid says at face value, because he's an extremely sarcastic writer whose goal is to poke a stick at fanboys. 

I won't list all the articles and podcasts mocking the fact that the Vita is an overpriced PSP 2.0 because I'd be here all day, but here's a few things to get you started.  I look forward to you not actually checking out any of these links:

Podcasts:

Power Button Podcast ep. 76: "We're not Buying the Playstation Vita (yet)..."

Weekend Confirmed Podcast ep. 100 - PlayStation Vita, DICE, Reckoning

Podcast BEYOND (the official IGN Playstation podcast, btw) - IGN Loves/Ignores/Wants the PlayStation Vita

Articles:

Destructoid - "Sony: PS Vita does not have any problems in Japan"

Destructoid - "Sony: demand for UMD to PS Vita transfer not big enough."

Destructoid - "Sony fixes PS Vita problems with...FIRMWARE!"

1up - "PlayStation Vita Scorecard"

Industry Gamers - "Sony PS Vita Sales Nosedive in Japan, Down 57 Percent."

Ars Technica - "Data Shows Vita's Missing Backwards Compatibility Could Cost Sony Sales."

Joystick Division - "Five Things That the PlayStation Vita Should Do (But Doesn't)."

There were some other articles I was looking for, but could not find on a cursory Google Search, and it's not worth any more of my time trying to find.  For example, I remember there specifically being a Destructoid article pointing out the five biggest mistakes made with the Vita, but I couldn't find it.

The general reaction I've seen to the Vita has been mixed.  People generally love the tech, but the games tend to either be underwhelming new installments of franchises they've already played (Uncharted: Golden Abyss) or ports of games people already OWN on consoles (Rayman, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, etc.). I don't see as much negative sentiment towards the thing now that the device has launched worldwide, but man there was a lot of negative coverage of the thing during the months after launch in Japan.

[Mop it up]

Madden isn't coming to 3DS this year because, as far as I'm aware, Madden doesn't sell well on handhelds. From looking it up, the last Madden game released on the DS was back in August of 2008. That means all of 2009 and 2010 had no Madden game, and I don't recall anyone batting an eye over it. EA are likely waiting until the 3DS userbase increases before trying another Madden game, because no one's going to buy a 3DS for Madden.

With Call of Duty, it's also a matter of the userbase. It came to the DS instead of 3DS because 3DS wasn't yet established, and DS games can still be played on 3DS. After the success the 3DS is having now, I'd be surprised if this year's Call of Duty isn't on 3DS.

As for Call of Duty being announced for the PSPita, I think one of two things caused that: 1 Activision thinks that the audience for the PSPita is the same as the PS3, which is comprised of a lot more people who buy Call of Duty games than the DS audience, or 2. Sony got them to make the announcement early to show it as an upcoming game, because they need games right now.

[broodwars]

It's also worth noting that the tech in the Vita probably allows Activision to create a simple downgraded port of the PS3 version (which is especially necessary since Sony's trying to hype-up cross-play between PS3/Vita games).  That's much less work than creating a whole separate version for the significantly inferior 3DS tech.  It's probably the same kind of work as creating a PSP game these days without having a PS2 version to downgrade.

[Chozo Ghost]

Seems to me, the only thing that really held these titles back is A) the DS is kiddah and B) the graphics, due to system limitations, weren't top notch.

The 3DS isn't any more "kiddah" than the DS. Not that the median age for the average COD player is very "mature" anyway. The games are rated M, but having played the online multiplayer it seems like every other person you hear talking on the headset is a little kid, so if the 3DS is "kiddie" then that works well with the majority of COD players. Parents let their kids play COD, and apparently even buy the games for them, so the M rating means absolutely nothing.

And as for the graphics limitations, the 3DS certainly addresses that. I don't know how well the DS COD games have done sales wise, but they must have done at least okay because so many of them have made their way to that system, with the most recent being the one which came out last November (Modern Warfare 3). Why did it come to the DS but not to the far more powerful 3DS?

[Chocobo_Rider]

Get this through your skull: the reason why no one says this is because so many people were financially wrong to say that about Nintendo, and they all looked like fools with the Wii.  Plus, there weren't articles stating that until after Nintendo had failed 3 times in a row to secure market share with the N64, GameCube, and Virtual Boy.

Dude, what are you talking about? People were saying that constantly just after the 3DS launch.  I just saw a video TODAY with a new guy saying Nintendo "is SEGA" in regards to their imminent demise due to the Wii U.
LINK: http://www.destructoid.com/experts-debate-max-and-tara-talk-with-videogame-analysts-223455.phtml

I don't have to (especially since the vast majority of news coverage you posted focused on the NA launch, ignored the JP sales, and also ignored the favorable launch sales news for the 3DS when it released).

These comments are addressed later ...

You see, unlike you I actually read and listen to articles and podcasts outside Nintendo-only coverage and news I want to hear.  You would especially know not to take anything Jim Sterling of Destructoid says at face value, because he's an extremely sarcastic writer whose goal is to poke a stick at fanboys. 

um, which of my links were to Nintendo-only sites?

Also, if Jim Sterling isn't being straight with the news, why was he the only one d-toid had reporting on the sales figures?  Just because his delivery is sarcastic, doesn't mean his conclusions are (always) invalid.

I won't list all the articles and podcasts mocking the fact that the Vita is an overpriced PSP 2.0 because I'd be here all day,

Right, these conversations always wrap up more quickly when people debate WITHOUT evidence. (?)
 
 

but here's a few things to get you started.  I look forward to you not actually checking out any of these links:

When have I ever ignored something you provided? You're always the one insisting you don't have to go out of your way to blah blah blah .... much like you just did when you said you didn't have to look over the links I supplied - having dismissed them because they didn't proclaim the 3DS a success months back... isn't that EXACTLY MY POINT! That they are being more lenient on the PSV... How did you get that backwards? Is this just a misunderstanding? Clarify.
 
 

Power Button Podcast ep. 76: "We're not Buying the Playstation Vita (yet)..."

 ... but they will one day? Hardly doom.

Plus, I've never heard of "PressTheButtons.com" and since they claim to be "one man's opinions and commentaries on happening in the video game industry" it's not exactly a representative sample of GAMING MEDIA.


 

Weekend Confirmed Podcast ep. 100 - PlayStation Vita, DICE, Reckoning

 Tell me what part(s) to listen to so I don't have to scrub through 2 hours of material? 

 

Podcast BEYOND (the official IGN Playstation podcast, btw) - IGN Loves/Ignores/Wants the PlayStation Vita

Let's see, 2/3 of those verbs are positive.  And this quote doesn't sound too doomy or gloomy:

"There's been an outbreak of PlayStation Vitas in the IGN office. After months of just the PlayStation Team sporting Sony's handheld, every one suddenly has one and an informed opinion."

 
 

Destructoid - "Sony: PS Vita does not have any problems in Japan"

Destructoid - "Sony: demand for UMD to PS Vita transfer not big enough."

Destructoid - "Sony fixes PS Vita problems with...FIRMWARE!"

 um, the first one is about how things are fine.  The second one is about how their problem is not a very big problem and the third one is about how a problem got fixed day one.  He admits shipping broken things and fixing them day one is not cool, but then, in his sarcastic way, proclaims: "no game company has ever knowingly shipped a broken product."

In other words, he's not singling Sony out.  And... still, at no point does he say the device could fail!  Which was the only point I was making.

 

1up - "PlayStation Vita Scorecard"

This is probably the most negative, comprehensive item you linked.  But they still give the Vita a "B".  Not exactly a bad score.  And reading through the article they have a lot of positive things to say.  Again, no gloom, no doom, just pros AND cons.
 
 
 

Industry Gamers - "Sony PS Vita Sales Nosedive in Japan, Down 57 Percent."

This one is the most negative.  But it's only based on Japan.  You critiqued my use of evidence from after the NA launch, but, isn't that just getting the big picture?  I mean, leaping to early conclusions is foolish, leaping to conclusions without gathering all the information? That's too stupid for any of us to be considering.

In spite of this, they don't leap to any conclusion about how, say, Smartphones have killed the dedicated gaming market or that Sony just doesn't "get it" anymore - as many did with the 3DS after it launched ... in ALL territories.

 
 

Ars Technica - "Data Shows Vita's Missing Backwards Compatibility Could Cost Sony Sales."

A great and interesting read.  A straight forward analysis of the potential drawbacks of lacking proper backwards compatibility.  They don't SAY doom, but they DO IMPLY it.  So I'll grant you this one!!
 
 

Joystick Division - "Five Things That the PlayStation Vita Should Do (But Doesn't)."

Congrats, you found an article that is not thrilled with the Vita!  So ... yay? The reason I supplied entire swaths of Vita-related news was because cherry-picking one article at a time isn't that useful when we're discussing an entire zeitgeist.
 
 

The general reaction I've seen to the Vita has been mixed.  People generally love the tech, but the games tend to either be underwhelming new installments of franchises they've already played (Uncharted: Golden Abyss) or ports of games people already OWN on consoles (Rayman, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, etc.). I don't see as much negative sentiment towards the thing now that the device has launched worldwide, but man there was a lot of negative coverage of the thing during the months after launch in Japan.

Ultimately, don't confuse the issue.  No one ever said nothing bad was written about the Vita.  The point I was trying to make that ejamer's and the author of that one article I posted picked up on was simply that when the 3DS had a shaky start, it was time to break out the tombstones - yet - in response to the PSV's even shakier start, the general voice from the gaming media has been "sales? who cares about sales!? look at this screen!!"

[UncleBob]

Get this through your skull: the reason why no one says this is because so many people were financially wrong to say that about Nintendo, and they all looked like fools with the Wii.

...which, of course, still doesn't explain why there are "analysis" and "experts" that are *still* saying that Nintendo needs to go third party, even after the major 1-2 punch of the DS/Wii...

[broodwars]

Get this through your skull: the reason why no one says this is because so many people were financially wrong to say that about Nintendo, and they all looked like fools with the Wii.

...which, of course, still doesn't explain why there are "analysis" and "experts" that are *still* saying that Nintendo needs to go third party, even after the major 1-2 punch of the DS/Wii...

Alright, where is this being said, and who is saying it?  Because I haven't seen a single analyst suggest this.  I've seen them suggest that Nintendo develop games for the iPhone market, but I haven't seen a suggestion that the company as a whole needs to go 3rd party for financial reasons.

[Chocobo_Rider]

Get this through your skull: the reason why no one says this is because so many people were financially wrong to say that about Nintendo, and they all looked like fools with the Wii.

...which, of course, still doesn't explain why there are "analysis" and "experts" that are *still* saying that Nintendo needs to go third party, even after the major 1-2 punch of the DS/Wii...

Alright, where is this being said, and who is saying it?  Because I haven't seen a single analyst suggest this.  I've seen them suggest that Nintendo develop games for the iPhone market, but I haven't seen a suggestion that the company as a whole needs to go 3rd party for financial reasons.

I literally just linked you to a video of a guy saying that Nintendo "is SEGA." In other words, will be going third party after the "inevitable" failure of the Wii U.

[UncleBob]

Not to mention, saying that Nintendo needs to start making cell phone games is saying that Nintendo needs to go third party (i.e.: make games for other platforms).

[broodwars]

Not to mention, saying that Nintendo needs to start making cell phone games is saying that Nintendo needs to go third party (i.e.: make games for other platforms).

Nonsense, not if Nintendo is still making games on their own platforms.  There's a growing market out there where Nintendo could be making money, but Nintendo would rather waste their resources finding ways to make people think 3D is such a worthwhile gimmick that they didn't waste their money on a 3DS (as opposed to putting out a handheld system powerful and versatile enough to allow for a wide variety of experiences). 

Besides, people would be saying the same thing about Sony if it weren't for the fact that Sony does actually have their own (unsuccessful) mobile phone division, and Sony has made it clear that they want to work in the mobile phone market.  Last time I checked, people weren't saying that Sony "went 3rd party" with that.

[Caterkiller]

Just as planed.

I am very aware of the way our gaming media sites view the Vita. I like to read different articles from different sites to see who is saying what. I see there is some negative press as well as some good stuff for Sony, but what I said weeks ago in the sales thread still stands. Why does everyone have it out for Nintendo to go 3rd party on a consistent basis? Angry birds sold 350 Million in 2 years, thats more than Mario! Nintendo should go 3rd party! I've seen articles like that about Sony, but the only time I see suggestions about Sony going 3rd party Nintendo is thrown in there with them.

Doesn't matter that like in 2009 or 2010 Nintendo was like company of the year, for like the whole world or something.  Or that they break records like crazy all the time and make so much profit every year up until recently. It is always "Nintendo is doomed, 3rd party would be the best for them, so they can focus on games!" F that ship! And the only reason why is because deep down they all feel burned by Nintendo. It's because they were hesitant with online, Zelda doesn't have a more western approach, they keep bringing out the same franchises over and over, they focus on the casuals, they don't have a dvd/blue ray player, etc.

At this point hating on Nintendo after an extremely brief moment of praise and ultimately predicting their complete down fall isn't just the trend with the gaming media it is one of Newton's Laws.



And that kind of pure bias hardly ever seen with Sony and Microsoft. EVER!

[NWR_insanolord]

(as opposed to putting out a handheld system powerful and versatile enough to allow for a wide variety of experiences)

What makes you think the 3DS isn't?

[ejamer]

I'm starting to think that Jim Sterling isn't the only one who likes poking fanboys with a stick...