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Nintendo 3DS Tops 4 Million In Japan, Super Mario 3D Land Breaks 1 Million

By Ishaan . December 26, 2011 . 8:30am

Nintendo 3DS Tops 4 Million In Japan, Super Mario 3D Land Breaks 1 Million

Famitsu publisher, Enterbrain, are back with another sales tidbit, and they report that the Nintendo 3DS crossed the 4 million mark in Japan last week. During the week, the Nintendo 3DS sold 510,629 units, the highest reported weekly sales for the system thus far.

 

Additionally, the system has its first million-selling games as well, Enterbrain report. Both Super Mario 3D Land (1.04 million) and Mario Kart7 (1.08 million) crossed the million mark last week. This large spike in sales all around has been attributed to the holiday week in Japan.

 

Since Monster Hunter 3G isn’t mentioned, we assume that game has yet to sell a million copies. Capcom hope to sell 1.2 million copies by the end of March.


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  • http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada

    Next time I will listen to Mr. Ishaan, I guess this cements the fact that Iwatar wont be ejected from the company and that Nintendo is pretty smart with their software lineup for the holidays. 

    Though, I wonder which future games will allow the 3DS to keep selling. A few games that were supposed to be hits just werent (Nintendogs). They can only release so many Mario’s franchise titles each year and of those only the two above push hardware. I guess a Pokemon 3DS game could save the system late next year, and maybe Animal Crossing will be big, but who knows. 

    Nintendo managed to recover greatly this year, hope they dont make mistakes next year and lose focus of 3DS with the launch of Wii U.

    • Barrylocke89

      Strong 3rd party support will help fill in the gaps…assuming it gets strong 3rd party support.

      • http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada

        I hope it does, but the system is missing prominent western studio support and missing key genres of western rpgs and graphically impressive titles, so I think it may be a bleak future ahead if it doesnt get these titles. 

        • http://www.youtube.com/user/jodecideion?feature=mhum TheWon and Only

          This is going to sound like a personal attack, but it’s the only way I know how to say it. You my friend have no idea how Nintendo works. The 3DS is now very success in Japan the land of handhelds. It’s already half the PS3 lifetime numbers, and have almost more lifetime million sellers. The Wii, and DS were successful with out everything you mention.  ”The system is missing prominent western studio support and missing key genres of western rpgs and graphically impressive titles.” Has any of that help the 360 become success in Japan? Has any of that help the PS3 jump into at least second place in the USA Market. NO. Despite what Reggie said he  is just a spokesman. Nintendo of Japan is in charge, and they have a better idea on what the WiiU will be priced. Nintendo knows that can’t afford to do another 3DS. Aka charge more than what the system would sell for. We can only imagine if the 3DS released with a original cheap price, and not 249. So the Wii U you will launch with a similar price that will still make it profitable, but affordable of consumers.  You keep saying the same thing, but the numbers don’t back it up.

          • Testsubject909

            You’d better not forget people who double dip though. Consider that Nintendo released a few new collector’s edition or alternate colors after a price drop, there’s bound to be people who’re going to be exchanging their old 3DS for new ones or who’ll go purchase multiples so to make a profit reselling them in the future, not to count packrats and collector’s. So there’s a high doubt that the install base is as high as the sales numbers (much like how it’s doubtful that there truly are that many people using the Xbox360 based solely on the sales numbers without taking into consideration the rather high RRoD count in the first years of it’s existence).

            And yes, the 3DS is succesful, but you can’t dismiss what Tsuna said. If people want a continued interest in the 3DS, there needs to be more then just first party support. We’ve seen in the past how a lack of third party support can cripple your console, and ever since Nintendo surely must’ve wisened up to that fact.

            And even if it sells well, it might not garner as well a praised reputation amongst gamers, this still hurts the company’s reputation. It might not hurt their sales, but it still is something to consider in the long run.
            [edit]
            (Remember all those people whining and stating that the Wii was a sellout? That it was a casual gamer cashgrab system? It took a while until that slowly dimmed down, and in huge part thanks to third party developers building games for the Wii)

          • PoweredByHentai

            I think the issue isn’t so much about having western developer support and whatnot.  I think the fundamental issue is to have third-party support, period.

            The N64 and GameCube periods were a brutal reminder of that fact.  Every game console essentially relies on this simple fact.  If there isn’t widespread third-party support for a console, then that console simply isn’t going to be able to do well irrespective of how cheap or how expensive the console is.

        • James Beatty

          There seems to be a solid line up of 3rd party support, it has more than the DS did in the same amount of times but the developers didn’t start supporting the system until they where sure it “wasn’t doomed” with it’s great sales that seems to be the case for the 3DS, but it might be too soon to know, but i can think of a few things that nintendo can do to ensure dominance. When the sales go down release a 3DS-XL (revision), then pokemon, and they have MH 4 and Super smash in the works so it seems to be good, for now. 

  • http://www.myspace.com/Juan_Rod bluejuan85

    So I guess Nintendo did alright and is no longer doomed. Well I don’t know if those numbers mean that’s good or what.

    • http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada

      We dont know that yet, with the Wii U costing $399 or more and apparently targetting consumers with disposable incomes greater than $60,000, I dont think Nintendo is in safe waters yet. Plus, 
      http://www.isnintendodoomed.com/

      • Testsubject909

        What’s the Wii U controller going to cost?

        Considering it’s basically an iPad with a Wiimote plastered permanently on it, I’d honestly expect something along the lines of 200$ per.

        And considering there can be only one per Wii U despite four player multiplayer capabilities, I seriously wonder how that’s going to play out in the long run for Nintendo…

      • James Beatty

        The wii U is probably not going to cost more than $400. My guess is $300-350, unless the wii U is a lot more powerful than we originally thought, but don’t expect it to be ridiculously expensive. 

      • http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan

        $399? No way. $300 is my guess. Not a penny more.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Farid-Belkacemi/1073052585 Farid Belkacemi

    I thought Nintendo was dead… Oh wait ! :D

    • d19xx

      They got a 1up…

  • d19xx

    Dedicated handheld gaming is dead my ass. :D

  • http://twitter.com/followthereader Matt Davidson

    Yay! Now hopefully that things are a little more stable they’ll start producing top-notch non-Mario games that can sell as well. Looking forwards to Kingdom Hearts and Theatrhythm on the 3DS, and hopefully a new Zelda and Pokemon as well. And it wouldn’t hurt to get a few new IPs on board and really start selling the 3D!

    It’s nice to have something positive to say about my 3DS for once – the only games I’ve played on it thus far have been old DS titles (with the exception of Ocarina of course) and it’s nice to know that it’s not going to be a big dust-collector forever :) Now bring on the Vita and long live handheld gaming!!!

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/jodecideion?feature=mhum TheWon and Only

    If there was any doubt!
    People need to look at the numbers, and use them to see the truth. Mario is a system seller. There is no decline in the amount of games he sell. Unless you are comparing the different brands aka 2D, 3D, and Kart Franchise. There is no decline in interest from the targeted audience that purchase his games. So add the new cash cow in Japan aka Monster Hunter. The 3DS will do extremely well in Japan. Just long enough for the next big thing which should be Animal Crossing 3DS, and Pokemon Grey. If anything Nintendo need to get to work on those DS type games. Brain Training, to recapture those gamers.

    • Testsubject909

      They’re mainstay game series that don’t get milled per year for easy money… Okay except maybe the countless Mario spinoffs, but the main components of the series tends to have a few years in between which helps to relieve gamers of certain uncomfortable sensation and turn a game into a pleasant return rather then a yearly subscription.

      Though these games certainly will entice long time fans, they’re also easily skipped until a price drop arrives. More then just these games, they’ll need a lot of interesting third party IP. Thankfully it seems like they’re getting good help there, so far.

  • riceisnice

    Is the Nintendo 3DS still selling at a loss? Or have they gone past that?

    • Testsubject909

      I was pretty sure the 3DS wasn’t selling at a loss originally… maybe after the price drop. I’d need to go look up the info.

    • PoweredByHentai

      The Nintendo 3DS hardware itself is currently sold at a loss:
      http://andriasang.com/comxaf/3ds_losses/ 

    • James Beatty

      I think i heard that it’s currently being sold at a $10 loss, i don’t know if that’s accurate. But they are making a ton of money out of mario kart and the e-shop titles so they shouldn’t be losing too much. 

  • http://twitter.com/Ale598 Ale598

    I don’t know, they have a tough battle to fight still. I remember when the DS came out how many I saw being gifted in Christmas. This year I’ve yet to see one given as a gift, my 8 year old niece received a.. you guessed it an iPod touch. Dedicated hanhelds just seem to appeal to hardcore gamers like you and me, (and I still don;t even own one) normal people not so much… 

  • Aoshi00

    That’s nice to hear.. I just finished Mario 3D Land last night (and unlocked Luigi, so there are still special stages).  What an amazing game, one of the best and most innovative Mario, 3D, 3DS, or just platforming games, I have to say I even like it more than Sonic Generations.  The 3D effect is not just for cosmetic purpose, it’s weaved into the gameplay every step of the way, very well designed, taking what’s best from the series and still full of surprises, from so many perspective and angles yet still practical, the gyroscope motion using the binoculars was fun.  The Bowser castle stages really got my heart pumping I was holding the system so tight, not many games made me do that :)  I hope Nintendo would continue to make more clever 3D games like this to take advantage of the system.. Looking forward to Kid Icarus next :)  Still need to unlock things and discover shortcuts for Mario Kart 7 too…

    Usually 3D doesn’t get to me, but after long session of Mario 3D Land and Resistance 3, it messed up my head a little.. guess those warnings telling you to take a break in Mario is useful :) Or FPS + 3D is just too much for me.. actually HotD Overkill Ext had something to do w/ it too lol..

  • Solomon_Kano

    Niiice. I still need to get a 3DS and 3D Land, but I’m glad to see it’s done well. I’m not the least bit surprised that 2 Mario games were the first to cross a million though.

    • James Beatty

      The way i see it is mario=quality, so i give them my money. I haven’t been disappointed by this with a few expections, the games that aren’t completely made by nintendo seem to be less…good. Mario and Sonic, for example feels more like a SEGA game and fortune street feels more like a Square game.

      • Solomon_Kano

        Yea, the spin-offs (Mario sports games excepted, since I usually like those) aren’t always up to par with the rest. I’ve yet to be let down by a main Mario game, so I’d agree with Mario = quality.

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