The DS has arguably become the juggernaut of the portable market in recent years, in part due to its enviable sales figures and great back-catalogue of titles. However, sometimes it’s hard to cast our minds back to the console’s release and remember that during its first year the popularity of the console hadn’t hit full swing and only achieved comparatively modest sales figures.
A new set of sales data released by Nintendo suggests that the 3DS isn’t quite the failure that everyone thought it was as it seems set to surpass first year sales of the DS in the North American market.
The DS sold 2.37 million units in the region between November 2004-October 2005 – its first year on sale. By comparison, the 3DS has sold 1.65 million since its launch in March 2011.
It may sound like the 3DS still has a long ways to go to catch up with DS sales, but half of its 2.37 million units shifted were over the christmas buying season, meaning that with Xmas round the corner that the 3DS is almost certain to catch up.
Nintendo America marketing boss Scott Moffitt said:
“With a massive lineup of software on the way and the first-year sales record of Nintendo DS in its sights, Nintendo 3DS enters its first holiday season with a full head of steam.”
Source: CVG
Sympozium
Its a nice console, glad its finding success… now if only Monster Hunter was revealed so I could avoid Importing… maybe I’d give it another go.
englishgolfer
nice to see everyone can put a spin on things ;) let’s hope their sales projections are true.
bacon_nuts
Interesting.. I still think a more different looking console would have helped the casual realise it’s more than a DS with 3D. The name doesn’t help either, sounds reminiscent of a bad 3D film.
Awayze
No it’s still a failure. I bet the DSi sold more or whatever the versions are called.
Joe Dart
I’m surprised you still brand it a failure.
The DSi/DSLite would have likely have sold a lot more during the same period but that’s not really a relevant comparison to make as that’s just an updated version of a DS. By the time the DSi/Lite came out the console already had a ton of great quality games under its belt.
An original DS to 3DS comparison works because they both start off in a similar position – they both didn’t a huge back catalogue of games under their belts when they launched, unless you count titles from the previous generation.
colmshan1990
I knew the ‘failure’ of it’s sales were being exaggerated, but I didn’t think it was to that extent.