Alex Anderson
Member
Eyes about popped out of my head until I got to the "in Japan" part. (saw the shortened version of the topic on the forum listings page at first) I was like "Huh????"
It won't really change much the fate of the 3DS on the West. But maybe that short surge of momentum carries over to the Switch.
Holy crap
The 3DS has come such a long way from its failed launch. Nowadays it's probably the best platform available, considering the sheer breadth of its library (including DS and Virtual Console).
Fail is such a strong word. Disappointing is far more appropriate. Luckily, they stuck it through and did not abandon the platform and country like some companies. *cough* SIE *cough*
It's a garbage handheld with a fantastic library.Congrats 3DS!
It's a shame how it did in the west, it's a great handheld with a fantastic library (+DS BC!).
In Japan Wii sales began to "tank" after 2008, before it performed quite well.Home console sales tanked in the 7th gen, and despite its huge success that affected the Wii as well.
That's not really an accomplishment this generation.Its no surprise. All you have to do is to release great games. And 3DS has the greatest current gen portable game library.
No problem, that's the only place where it matters : P.It's also Japan only.
Failed launch is completely fair when they have to drop the price 80 dollars and offer 20 games to ambassadors. It's great they have recovered it and it is a great system but they really botched it at first.Fail is such a strong word. Disappointing is far more appropriate. Luckily, they stuck it through and did not abandon the platform and country like some companies. *cough* SIE *cough*
PSP didn't sold that great either in US in fact I believe 3DS is going to match or exceed PSP total sales in that market.Really impressive numbers. The only reason that it won't match PSP or GBA worldwide numbers are because it didn't thrive in NA or Europe. But Japan sure carried its weight and then some for sales.
It's also Japan only.
Just think of all the Streetpasses..... :'(
It's a garbage handheld with a fantastic library.
I think it was more that they probably underpriced the Wii in retrospect (as scalpers across the planet will attest), and figured they could go higher with the 3DS markup after its fairly well received announcement.
After 2006 PS2 sold about 1.7M units in Japan.I disagree. Maybe in the case of the ds/3ds but Japan doesn't let consoles die easily. PS2 was selling extremely well, well into the PS3 lifetime and the same thing is happening with the ps4. It's why so many japanese games are being released for both the PS3 and PS4 to this day.
No. I dislike it for reasons beyond being underpowered; the build quality of the OG 3DS is awful for example, and the ergonomics of all the 3DS models I've tried out are super uncomfortable for my hands.Does it change anything if I say I have a Vita and still find it great? That's some ridiculously unpowered hardware, sure, but makes use of it better than its competitor.
I disagree. Maybe in the case of the ds/3ds but Japan doesn't let consoles die easily. PS2 was selling extremely well, well into the PS3 lifetime and the same thing is happening with the ps4. It's why so many japanese games are being released for both the PS3 and PS4 to this day.
3DS is near 300m software already pre-Sun/Moon. It might not catch PSP in hardware but it's going to easily lap it for software.As for the last known official shipment figure (march 2012): 76.3M.
But I believe it shipped a few more millions afterwards.
Total software sold as March 2012: 330.2M.
Damn, for some reason I thought the ps2 did better than that in Japan.
Personal gaming devices vs. household gaming devices.
If you compare software sales the PS2 is easily ahead of the 3DS. Playstation 2 should be like at over 200 million software sales in Japan whle the 3DS just recently got to the 100 million milestone.
To be fair that's retail sales only. There's literally hundreds of 3DS games unaccounted for.
I think the PS2 is even ahead of the NDS in that regard.
Consoles sales are bound to the amount of TVs in households, while handhelds are bound to people in those households. Hardware revisions are also a factor.
People often forget this when talking about the 3DS.
The weird x factor in the West for 3DS is that it's having a weird mini revival.
No. I dislike it for reasons beyond being underpowered; the build quality of the OG 3DS is awful for example, and the ergonomics of all the 3DS models I've tried out are super uncomfortable for my hands.
That makes absolutely no sense. There are actual units of software that were sold through the 3DS eShop that are not counted. The PS2 did not have any form of digital storefront.
Dropping the price (even for one day to $100) and being the hot console with the newest Pokemon can do that to you
With that said, the mini revival can turn into a long tail if they do a permanent price drop of the new 3DS to $100, and drop the new 3DS XL to $140, since switch isn't BC.
So the 3DS somehow does have a better software ratio than the NDS? Even a significant higher software ratio wouldn't help the 3DS to get even close to the PS2.
Easily the best current gen handheld, even if it's not as good as the DS. Well deserved.
I do wonder how Switch will dig into whatever Tier the 3DS is on. Will Nintendo continue with the brand? Can't wait to find out. Either way I'm buying it all.
i think they're hedging their bets on switch. the initial forecast is super low (2 million), and the 3ds is planned to stick around for at least another year or so. i think this affords them the opportunity to make money off the platform as a legacy system, while also keeping the brand around juuuuust in case they have to go a completely different route, abandon switch, and go full handheld-only for dedicated hardware. they kept the game boy and gba around for the same reason.
3DS sold dissapointingly in the west, but it wasn't a complete failure. Going by NPD it's still ahead of PS4 ltd in the US even. Not so bad for a "dead" system.3DS sales being so good in Japan and so disappointing abroad really does explain why Nintendo went the direction they did with Switch.
Really impressive numbers. The only reason that it won't match PSP or GBA worldwide numbers are because it didn't thrive in NA or Europe. But Japan sure carried its weight and then some for sales.