We reported last week that the Nintendo 3Ds was a 'flop' causing much commotion amongst Nintendo fans. Of course flop was a bit too harsh. The 3DS has certainly done well it's just that preliminary reports show that it just hasn’t done as good as everyone expected, particularly on the software side of things. The Metro has pointed out that multiple pre-orders had overly inflated pre-launch figures causing disappoint for Nintendo come its release. Many of their readers have admitted to having pre-ordered the console up to six times to ensure the best price on launch day.
Rob Saunders, Nintendo UK’s head of communications has put the news into context. He told Metro: ‘The pre-order figures were retail estimates which are never 100% accurate. These sales figures are only the first 2 days sales, Friday and Saturday.’
But regardless of the confusion over figures (which Rob Saunders puts down to EU laws preventing Nintendo from setting an RRP) the 3DS in terms of Nintendo hardware has been a huge success. It now ranks as Nintendos most successful portable console (on launch.) Check out the sales figures below. But interestingly they have never yet beaten the PSP launch figure. And it has been pointed out that 3DS figures come from Nintendo not Chart-Track
Original DS-87,000
DSi- 92,000
3DS- 113,000
PSP- 185,000,
But this is just the story in Europe. There are no figures from the U.S but Nintendo of America are saying only that the 3DS achieved the highest ever one-day sales of any portable console.
The truth will come out in the end.
In other news the 3DS has been hit by problems. What's being called 'the black screen of death' is an error which crashes your device forcing you to switch it on and off thus losing your precious game process. Nintendo say "we recommend that in the first instance they download and install the latest system update, now available online. If the problems still persist we recommend they contact their local Nintendo Customer Service centre to investigate the problem."
One thought on “Is The Nintendo 3DS A Success Or Not?: The Debate Continues”
The fact that you can walk into any shop that sells these and pick one up off the shelf means they either kept up with supply or didn’t sell as many as they thought. I’d guess the latter.