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At the end of this month, the Nintendo 3DS will turn one year old in the United States. What a difference those past 12 months have made. With a price cut and two juggernaut titles turning the tide, the system has enjoyed a surge in sales, not only overseas in Japan, but in the United States as well.
Nintendo's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Scott Moffitt, recently chatted with IGN about the success of the 3DS, listing off several critical, and impressive, statistics. Here is where the 3DS stands after close to 12 months on the market. (Figures provided for the DS are after that system was on sale for one year.)
Moffitt rounded out his Nintendo's accomplishments by highlighting the recent surge of high profile software that has come to the 3DS over the past month, ranging from Resident Evil Revelations to Tekken to Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.
That several of Nintendo's own titles were doing well was not a surprise, and the support from Japanese developers was certainly coming through. But what about Western developers, whose efforts have certainly come to fruition on next-generation platforms like the Xbox 360?
Moffitt stated that while Nintendo certainly anticipates and expects more support from Western developers in the coming months, his company's focus remains on widening the base of support for the 3DS - by selling as many systems as possible. Indeed, the bigger the install base, the more enticing a system will become to all publishers, effectively making the argument for 3DS development for Nintendo. Moffitt also pointed out that the success of a title like Revelations will encourage other developers down the line.
Lastly, while the 3DS is certainly performing well with its ever-expanding library and more appealing price point, we raised the notion of a new iteration. Almost every day, someone on the IGN Nintendo team is asked if a 3DS "Lite" model is on the way. Are people better off waiting to purchase their system? We asked Moffitt about his thoughts of this mentality - that many gamers were simply patiently waiting on the sidelines, trained to wait, knowing the 3DS would inevitably have a redesign.
Moffitt clearly wasn't about to confirm or deny the existence of any such model, giving the usual line about how his company wasn't prepared to make any announcements to that effect today. Still, he noted that with so many quality releases, that today was a perfect time to pick up a 3DS. Indeed, with so many big titles just arriving in stores, and with Nintendo's own Kid Icarus Uprising, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir and Mario Tennis Open on the way over the next three months, it would seem difficult to wait.
So the 3DS is not only strongly positioned now, but it has rapidly left its predecessor in the dust, outselling it by almost 2:1 in every respect. Can Nintendo sustain that momentum? No doubt future Nintendo Direct presentations, as well as E3 2012 in June, will give us a better sense. For now, it's difficult not to sit back and admire Nintendo's reversal of fortune.
source
Nintendo's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Scott Moffitt, recently chatted with IGN about the success of the 3DS, listing off several critical, and impressive, statistics. Here is where the 3DS stands after close to 12 months on the market. (Figures provided for the DS are after that system was on sale for one year.)
- The 3DS has sold 4.5 million units, compared to the original DS's 2.3 million.
- With a library of over 100 physical titles, the 3DS has sold 9 million games; the DS sold 5 million with 58 titles.
- The eShop, which wasn't available in the DS's first year, has over 500 games available. Nintendo wouldn't provide sales statistics, but did mention that on average a consumer downloads five games or programs.
- In terms of general revenue, including software and accessories, the 3DS has generated $1.2 billion; the DS managed $540 million in its first year.
Moffitt rounded out his Nintendo's accomplishments by highlighting the recent surge of high profile software that has come to the 3DS over the past month, ranging from Resident Evil Revelations to Tekken to Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.
That several of Nintendo's own titles were doing well was not a surprise, and the support from Japanese developers was certainly coming through. But what about Western developers, whose efforts have certainly come to fruition on next-generation platforms like the Xbox 360?
Moffitt stated that while Nintendo certainly anticipates and expects more support from Western developers in the coming months, his company's focus remains on widening the base of support for the 3DS - by selling as many systems as possible. Indeed, the bigger the install base, the more enticing a system will become to all publishers, effectively making the argument for 3DS development for Nintendo. Moffitt also pointed out that the success of a title like Revelations will encourage other developers down the line.
Lastly, while the 3DS is certainly performing well with its ever-expanding library and more appealing price point, we raised the notion of a new iteration. Almost every day, someone on the IGN Nintendo team is asked if a 3DS "Lite" model is on the way. Are people better off waiting to purchase their system? We asked Moffitt about his thoughts of this mentality - that many gamers were simply patiently waiting on the sidelines, trained to wait, knowing the 3DS would inevitably have a redesign.
Moffitt clearly wasn't about to confirm or deny the existence of any such model, giving the usual line about how his company wasn't prepared to make any announcements to that effect today. Still, he noted that with so many quality releases, that today was a perfect time to pick up a 3DS. Indeed, with so many big titles just arriving in stores, and with Nintendo's own Kid Icarus Uprising, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir and Mario Tennis Open on the way over the next three months, it would seem difficult to wait.
So the 3DS is not only strongly positioned now, but it has rapidly left its predecessor in the dust, outselling it by almost 2:1 in every respect. Can Nintendo sustain that momentum? No doubt future Nintendo Direct presentations, as well as E3 2012 in June, will give us a better sense. For now, it's difficult not to sit back and admire Nintendo's reversal of fortune.
source
