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Home News 3DS Sales Nose Dive In Second Month On Market

GAMING NEWS

3DS Sales Nose Dive In Second Month On Market

Posted on Monday, May 16 @ 06:52:05 Eastern by


When the Nintendo 3DS was first revealed at E3 2010, gamers everywhere, along with the press, were immediately smitten by its hi-tech glasses-free 3D screen and promise of major game releases. The buzz didn't waiver; the build-up to the 3DS launch was full of hype. But then something happened. Nintendo over-promised, but grossly under-delivered.

The 3DS hit retail shelves everywhere during the last week of March. In that one week, the Nintendo 3DS sold a very respectable 400,000 units. Not too shabby. But that was the initial early adopters, the rich kids, and the Nintendo fanatics. And even they realized that the 3DS wasn't quite the system they were so excited about.

Where were the incredible games that Nintendo had been showing off for months? Where was the eShop? Internet browser? This was a perfect example of a botched console launch: poor launch library and missing key features.

Nintendo's eagerness to bring the 3DS to the market has put a damper what hype the 3DS was generating, and sales have fallen off dramatically. In stark contrast to first week sales of 400,000, the Nintendo 3DS managed to sell under half of that during the entire month of April, a lackluster 194,000 units.

It's not just the 3DS either that's suffering from poor Nintendo strategy. The little Wii that captivated consumers for nearly 4 years, has too few interesting or exciting games to draw in new console sales, and sales are in decline.

In April, the Nintendo Wii sold 172,000 units, down 38% year-over-year for the month. Granted, Nintendo just lowered the price of the Nintendo Wii, so that should help stir the pot a bit.

This may end up being a good thing for consumers. Hopefully Nintendo learns from the 3DS launch, and prepares a full line-up and feature set that's ready to go day one of the release of Nintendo's new console that they're debuting at E3.

GR will be there live for the E3 debut. Stick with us for all your E3 coverage.

[Source]
Tags:   Nintendo, 3DS, Wii


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Comments
  • MrrClean
    MrrClean
    Joined: Aug 2010
    Posted: May 16th, 2011 at 11:47 am
    Nintendo as a game developer is never going to re-establish itself unless it tries to get rid of this stupid family friendly attitude they have going. They got famous and respected from stuff like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, and while they have all had wicked games (not to mention lots of sh*tty ones) they are very childish games. So when Nintendo got its ass handed to it by the newer companies making games where you can kill zombies and blow stuff up, they tried to stick to their roots. While commendable, its just not the kind of buisness strategy that is going to get you record numbers in a world dominated by games with big guns, bigger explosions, and guts galore (not always, mind you, but very very often).
    0 0
  • MrrClean
    MrrClean
    Joined: Aug 2010
    Posted: May 16th, 2011 at 11:47 am
    They have tried to save themselves with gimicks built into their systems (motion controller on the Wii, 3D screen on the 3DS) while not staying anywhere near the the current level of software because then they wouldnt be as kid friendly... I dunno, stick with one's principles, or join the rest of em to make a buck? I still love Super Mario on SNES, but f*cked if I'm gonna buy any of the new Nintendo systems.
    0 0
  • TurinAlexander
    TurinAlexander
    Joined: Sep 2006
    Posted: May 16th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
    The drop isn't particularly surprising considering the extreme lack of games at launch. The only people that bothered to buy the silly things are the Nintendo fanboys. Now that they have theirs, there really isn't that much interest from the general public.
    0 0
  • usaglory
    usaglory
    Joined: Mar 2009
    Posted: May 16th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
    So much for their "word of mouth" strategy. For their new home console they need to stop alienating third party developers. If they had a console with all their great franchises plus the GTAs, CODs, REs, etc, they would be untouchable.
    0 0
  • wildmario
    wildmario
    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: May 16th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
    I think Nintendo of Japan lives in a different world whereas developers in the West know what people want. Nintendo needs to realize that not everyone lives so packed together that you don't need a computer or cell phone to communicate.
    0 0
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff
    Joined: Nov 2009
    Posted: May 16th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
    @wildmario: Exactly. Seeing everyone on the train with a 3DS would make me want to buy one.
    0 0
  • wildmario
    wildmario
    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: May 17th, 2011 at 8:30 am
    I also think that is the reason why Nintendo doesn't push for a stronger online system. Japan is very dense with the population and you can practically find anyone walking near you using a DS or something so you can get a few people down at a McDonald's and just play locally. The United States and Europe have a big population as well but they don't live packed together like sardines so online play is more appealing to them.
    0 0

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