Nintendo announced in a PR statement released in the wake of NPD’s report for sales in North America last month that sales of the Nintendo 3DS line have hit 60 million units worldwide- which means that the 3DS is still the highest selling system of this generation. Sales of the 3DS have been helped, in spite of a disastrous early launch that was marked by an abnormally high asking price, undesirable hardware, confused marketing, and a lack of games, by very high quality exclusives, aggressive promotions and bundling, and multiple new models that have all spurred interest in the handheld.
The year ahead continues to look bright for the 3DS- now in its sixth year, the 3DS is still due to get some highly anticipated games, such as Shin Megami Tensei 4 Apocalypse, Monster Hunter Generations, Dragon Quest 7, Yokai Watch 2, and of course, Pokemon Sun/Moon.
The success of the 3DS, in spite of the cards stacked against it as they were, and in a post smartphone world, proves that there is still a market for dedicated handheld devices- something that people tend to forget in the face of the failure of the competing PS Vita. Going forward, it will be interesting to see whether or not Nintendo can revive the handheld market with the 3DS successor- largely expected to launch next year.
