The Nintendo 3DS was a bit of a sales failure at launch, which led to its historic $80 pricecut, and to Nintendo beginning to pump out as many major games as they could in an effort to rescue the handheld. We’ve since come a long way from that- today, the 3DS is the highest selling system of this generation, with over 60 million units sold worldwide. And now, it has crossed another major and significant milestone.
In Japan, sales of Nintendo 3DS 21.9 million units last week, which means that lifetime sales of the Nintendo 3DS in the country are now officially higher than lifetime sales for the PS2 were. This also makes the 3DS the third highest selling system of all time in Japan- it is now behind only the Gameboy and the Nintendo DS. That said, given that both those systems sold over 32 million units in Japan, the 3DS is unlikely to ever climb up a spot in this list beyond this point.
It is still a major milestone, and something worth celebrating. Almost six years from its initial release, Nintendo’s handheld is now one of the best gaming systems you can buy this generation, and shows no signs of slowing down. Kudos to Nintendo on the turnaround here.