Nintendo sold 303,000 3DS units across Europe and 113,000 units in the UK during the new portable's first two days on sale.
The figure tops the British launches for Wii and DS, which moved 87,000 units and 105,000 units during their debut weekends.
"With the built-in pick-up-and-play Face Raiders game and StreetPass feature adding new dimensions to the already diverse line-up of launch titles, Nintendo 3DS has struck a chord with gamers old and new."
Nintendo said on Tuesday that 3DS garnered higher day-one sales figures in the US than any previous Nintendo handheld.
Comments
44 comments so far...
wrightandrewjame on 1 Apr '11 said:
*Looks back at PS3 v 360 sales thread*
Hey guys come on over the water's fine!
I actually called this before the 3DS launched. I said it wouldn't sell as many as the PSP did, would not sell out, and I was sceptical about the pre-order figure. Should be an analyst...
Balladeer on 1 Apr '11 said:
You utter asshat.
The words "Nintendo handheld" from Fischer are telling. Not that it makes any difference in the long run, mind.
plodalong28 on 1 Apr '11 said:
yah! well done Nintendo, I love it when they do well.
wrightandrewjame on 1 Apr '11 said:
Asshat? Is that one of the StreetPass Quest rewards?
I'll agree that in the long run it'll make no difference. It's just the wrong time of year. Plus a sort of lackluster launch really. It'll all be remedied by Christmas when the hype train will be well and truly going.
El Mag on 1 Apr '11 said:
You can't run away here THEN tell people in that thread that you have....shhhh i hear footsteps turn the lights off.
Balladeer on 1 Apr '11 said:
Let's lock the doors and pretend we're not home.
andisart on 1 Apr '11 said:
Great news! better start than even the uber-hpyed Wii at launch, impressive!
Balladeer on 1 Apr '11 said:
(sighs with relief) It's only a blue-skinned Nintendo fan. Guess I loaded my shotgun for nothing.
boskersrevenge on 1 Apr '11 said:
Well, I was going to get one and circumstances changed, it wasn't a hard decision to let it go as Nintendo had kinds of killed my excitement by first allowing retailers to set the price and then revealing the release schedule.
I can imagine if Nintendo set it at £190 in the first place and had Zelda in time, it would have gone mental.
ste hicky on 1 Apr '11 said:
same here bosker. doesn't mean it's not on the list,just not right now.
i'm waiting on a certain zelda game myself.
JuiKuen on 1 Apr '11 said:
I'd always said I'd get mine at Xmas. Hopefully all games I want will be out be out then. But even if Mario Kart and Kid Icarus aren't, SSF IV, Star Fox 64 and Zelda will be and that'll be enough for me what with all the games coming out for the other consoles I have
rbt2 on 1 Apr '11 said:
Quite pleased with mine. I had no intention of getting one until there were worthy games but I caved in. You can see the potential in it. I'm sure there'll be a game out this year that will make 3Ds's fly off the shelves. Just a shame we didn't have a launch title of that pedigree.
Just goes to show that a machine's nowt without the software.
The_Jaster on 1 Apr '11 said:
Don't forget a certain ipad 2 was out on the same day so that comes into it but 113,000 is still great & in two days......anyway its the long term sales that matter not the first week sales
DS was lower in its first week also & look what happened with that compared to the psp.
El Mag on 1 Apr '11 said:
Mine will be brought in june if the release schedule from a few days back was accurate. Knowing my luck it'll be sold out everywhere by then though. I've only heard of a couple moans from somebody i know with one. First was obviously the battery life, the other was the circle pad making a scratching noise while using it on Street Fighter.
The_Jaster on 1 Apr '11 said:
D-pad is the way to go on Street fighter the crazy fool.
Stryker89 on 1 Apr '11 said:
Good sales, indeed! Now announce a new F-Zero game for the 3DS, and we'll all be happy.
Bryanee1983 on 1 Apr '11 said:
The 3DS pad is bloody awful, one of the worst I've used, why Nintendo went for this clicky thingy is beyond me.
Pipster on 1 Apr '11 said:
113,000 units? I thought the head of marketting had projected over 140,000 units between pre-order and launch sales..
Is anyone else getting the idea that the whole 3DS package right now isn't as good as we all really wish it was? I was sceptical of trading in my DSiXL just because frankly I'm getting old, heading into my thirties and love the nice BIG shiney screens.. So I waited and have been checking out all the forums and I keep hearing the same thing from all the reviewers and gamers..
Pilotwings - the game's good but over far too quickly.. Monkeyball - not as tricky as it should have been to beat and 2/3 of the game is just a bad clone.. The Sims - not really designed with the 3DS in mind.. Where's the bottom kicking 9.8/10 game that would have had me handing over my cash? Hell, I'd have even played something with Luigi as the lead..
OK, so I can wait a few months for Starfox, Kid Icarus and Zelda.. But then how long before the next incarnation of the hand-held appears with the bigger screens that I wanted in the first place, better battery life and some new shiney uber-3d gimmick that'll make me want to eat my own fist with frustration at having paid out already..
I really wanted to have no reason to stop myself from runnning out and picking up a new hand-held but am I the only person thinking that the big N is just relying on the fact that hey, this is a new Nintendo and it's 3D! ZOMG it's got to be amazing.. Hasn't it?
The_Jaster on 2 Apr '11 said:
The 3DS D-pad is just like the Dsi one which I liked, since I switched to using D-pad in SFIV3D its been a little easier for me......not by much though.
Dragovian on 2 Apr '11 said:
Quite. That's definitely its biggest weakness, in my opinion - the screen size. It's very small compared to my XL (which I've still got).
I'm pleased I've got a 3DS though. Pilotwings is superb and nothing like as short as the reviews say if you try to perfect every mission. So, with that, Street Fighter and Ridge Racer, that's a few really decent games at launch. The StreetPass is absolutely brilliant too, makes you want to swap as much data as possible.
My only advice is to assume you won't use the 3D. You might love it, but you might not. It's better to pretend it doesn't exist, then it's a bonus if you like it.
Deathawaitsyou on 2 Apr '11 said:
Excellent figures-the console is certainly worth every penny... well apart from the shocking battery life !!! Really enjoying Pes however why no online mode ? very lazy!!!!! I don't think the screen size is an issue, how big do you want the console to be gamegear size ?
El Mag on 2 Apr '11 said:
I think there's probably a simple explanation for that. Quite alot of people pre-ordered at multiple places trying to get a better deal, then they cancelled the rest and went with the best out of the bunch.
Pipster on 2 Apr '11 said:
Yeah that's certainly a reasonable explanation, but I'm not completely convinced that the launch was as great as Nintendo was hoping in the UK. Obviously the marketing manager is going to hype the new system at every opportunity but 140k units was when he was being conservative. You'd have thought he'd have factored in multiple pre-ordering just to avoid looking like they hadn't hit their target..
"I think we're pretty safe in assuming that most people who pre-ordered will go out and get it in the first few days, and when you add on a few more who didn't pr-order, I think we can easily exceed that 140,000 and sell 150,000, 160,000, perhaps even as high as 200,000." - James Honeywell, Nintendo UK Marketing Manager
200,000? Really? Don't forget that he's talking about just the launch here too.. Also I've noticed that in some shops the trade in value of items like the DSiXL against the 3DS is actually getting higher.. Wondering if the confidence is there with retailers.. I'd love to buy a 3DS and it be awesome but the feedback that I've heard so far is, don't buy it for the 3D effects alone and only expect ok-ish games, so having played Streetfighter to death or at least a solid KO since it's second evolution I'm left still looking for that reason to buy..
Pipster on 2 Apr '11 said:
Would have liked the screens to be as big as say... The last upgraded version of the DS maybe? I payed out for the XL as I thought then and still think now that it was a sound investment in a better piece of tech. If there wasn't a market for XL size screens then what was the thinking behind launching the XL as the DSi's last stand before launching the 3DS?
Even if the larger screen would have increased costs I'm sure a lot of people would have welcomed it instead of what, whichever way you look at it, is a step backwards along the line of development..
Deathawaitsyou on 2 Apr '11 said:
I just think id take a higher res screen over a larger one any day
rbt2 on 2 Apr '11 said:
Lower than predicted sales figures aren't down to apathy, lacklustre launch titles (RR and Pilotwings excepted) or lack of advertising. it's all down to the economic slump we're in. Most people just haven't got £200+ for a handheld and game.
g_marrs on 2 Apr '11 said:
+1 for Intelligent observation
rbt2 evolves into...
...
rbt3!!!
Good comment.
g_marrs on 2 Apr '11 said:
Noticed a few comments with regards the games.
I can't believe I'm saying this...
but having received Rayman 3DS for £8.00
I really can't believe I'm gonna say this...
I think in my opinion ,...
it might just be...
The best example of a 3D game for the 3DS.
OMG, I can't believe Ubisoft put me in the position of having to give some credit to their cash-port.
rbt2 on 2 Apr '11 said:
Fanx ever so for the kind remark, marrsy. I did make one intelligent observation before that though...circa 1997 I believe.
I must say, you've got me interested in Rayman now. Might think about treating meself to that tomorrow.
The_Jaster on 2 Apr '11 said:
I so wish 3DS had demos of some sort..then we could see certain games for ourselves...hopefully we get that with the eShop update in May.
Out of the 4 games I have PES has the best 3D effects IMO.
rbt2 on 2 Apr '11 said:
Blimey Jaster, I fancy PES after reading your post now.
Decisions decisions.
g_marrs on 2 Apr '11 said:
Yeah, it's bizarre. It's kind of like a miniature theatre with stage like backdrops. Somehow, it just works.
The_Jaster on 2 Apr '11 said:
oh another thing when you see the teams in PES lining up in the tunnel its almost like yer the camera man yourself.......love that game, short on modes compared to the ps3 version but ML is all ye really need to be honest & its like the old ps2 PES 3 OR 5. (My personal favs)
dm_1782 on 2 Apr '11 said:
**WOW PEOPLE REALLY LIKE TO COMPLAIN DON'T THEY** waa waa waa the screen isn't big enough, waa waa waa i don't like the pad, waa waa waa Nintendo didnt release stellar titles that stole the limelight from the competition meaning that games like Super Street Fighter wouldn't do as well as they did and giving Nintendo more time to put the extra polish on their games to make them worthy. WAA WAA WAA bloody ungrateful babies maybe someone should lock you in a room for a week with a Commodore 64 and see how much complaining you do then. Geez some people don't know what they have
g_marrs on 2 Apr '11 said:
Complaining about complaining, eh?
rbt2 on 2 Apr '11 said:
Most of us here are British.
It's our birthright to moan like fukc!
The_Jaster on 2 Apr '11 said:
Championship moaner right here.
toaboa on 3 Apr '11 said:
I got a feel that once word of mouth starts to spread, and the 3D effect gets its proper exposure, we'll start seeing sales landslides - even if the general public would tend to consider the 3DS as "just another DS-revision"
MattyR95 on 3 Apr '11 said:
Well said!
Dragovian on 3 Apr '11 said:
You're really overreacting. There's nothing wrong with the 3DS, we're just saying we'd like bigger screens, that's all.
Pipster on 3 Apr '11 said:
Wow... Am I missing something here? I was under the impression that this was a forum for discussing how well received the 3DS has been and how much of a success the launch was.. If we're all supposed to be grateful for having the opportunity to hand over our money without asking any questions about the deal we're getting I'd like to announce that I've got some magic beans for sale if anyone's interested..
I think RBT2 isn't wrong mentioning the whole global economic situation just now but I would have thought that Nintendo's head of UK marketing could have factored that in when making a forecast.. I mean he's sorta paid to realise these things right?
BTW has anyone else noticed a drop in price of the "big" launch titles.. My local Gamestation has dropped the price of the Streetfighter, Pilotwings, Nintendogs etc from £39.99 to what I think was about £32.99.. Only a few pounds I know, but a cut of 17.5% in the first week? Still making me wonder if they're not moving off the shelves as quickly as they'd hoped..
milky_joe on 4 Apr '11 said:
First lesson on dealing with Nintendo PR. Unless you get it from Miyamoto, Iwata, or Reggie, ignore it. They couldn't sell 200k 3DS consoles when the UK shipment was only 185k.
Balladeer on 4 Apr '11 said:
Fixed. Mostly because Reggie makes my ears want to turn themselves inside out.
Taus on 4 Apr '11 said:
Got my 3DS today, on a whim, NGP is a nailed on cert but didn't think I wanted a 3DS but, to be honest, I am a complete sucker for Street Fighter. Honestly the amount of consoles I have bought because of a decent version of SF is byond a joke: SNES, 3DO & now 3DS
Not overwhelmed with the console, it's ok without being awesome but I'll wait for Metal Gear Solid, Starfox & Zelda to come out before passing final judgement