It may have taken roughly seven years but the Nintendo 3DS has achieved another sales milestone in Japan. As per Media Create’s hardware charts, the 3DS range of handheld devices has crossed over 24 million sales in the region since the original 3DS launched on February 26th 2011.

The grand total of 24,004,320 units consists of 4,731,954 New Nintendo 3DS XL units; 510,883 units of the Nintendo 2DS; and 662,159 units of the New Nintendo 2DS XL. If nothing else, this sales total indicates that Japan still enjoys the portability and affordable nature of the device. So despite the Nintendo Switch selling like hot cakes, it may not phase out the 3DS anytime soon.

Thankfully, Nintendo has confirmed that it will continue supporting the handheld, keeping it as an affordable option for consumers. It also confirmed newer upcoming releases like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, Wario Ware Gold and Luigi’s Mansion for this year.

We’ve seen the PlayStation 4 topping Japan sales but it’s not often that the PlayStation Vita manages to get one over on the New Nintendo 3DS XL. According to this week’s Media Create charts, it was Dragon Quest Builders which propelled the Sony platforms to the top.

Dragon Quest Builders debuted in first and second place in the software charts with 178,016 and 141,369 units respectively on PS Vita and PlayStation 4. The PS Vita managed to sell 45,114 units while the PS4 sold 32,556 units in the past week. Despite the debut of Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash on Wii U, which sold 55,331 units, the Wii U only sold 8,931 units.

The other big success in the charts was Monster Hunter X which continues to sell well. It hit 17,023 units with lifetime sales at 2,661,523 units. The New 3DS XL only managed to sell 22,593 units though.

Thoughts on this week’s numbers? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

After the reported success of the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Wii U, especially the latter which saw Super Mario Maker and Splatoon average more than 60K units each, Media Create’s charts revealed the best-selling games and consoles for the week past in Japan.

Monster Hunter X is on top with 149,587 units sold followed by Monster Strike with 140,479 units (and no, there’s no relation between the two). Super Mario Maker sold 68,523 units on the Wii U while Splatoon sold 60,991 units for the week. Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Akaneko-dan/Shiroinu-tai on the 3DS managed to sell 56,819 units this week.

Hardware sales were also exceptionally strong for the New Year. The New Nintendo 3DS XL sold 82,675 units followed by the PlayStation Vita with 77,926 units, the PlayStation 4 with 70,596 units, the Nintendo Wii U with 55,798 units and the New Nintendo 3DS with 23,895 units.

What are your thoughts on sales in Japan with the start of 2016? Let us know in the comments.

The popularity of Fire Emblem in Japan shouldn’t be underestimated – the newest game in the series for Nintendo 3DS, Fire Emblem Fates is still the top-selling title in Japan according to this week’s Media Create charts. It sold 54,986 units for a lifetime total of 315,571 units.

Next up was Rhythm Heaven: The Best Plus on 3DS which sold 34,467 units this past week while averaging 301,193 units over its lifetime. Nintendo’s Splatoon has also been doing fairly well in Japan with 34,135 units sold and 382,175 units in its lifetime. It was followed by Persona 4: Dancing All Night on the Vita which sold 13,028 units this week (107,064 units over its lifetime) and Minecraft: PS Vita Edition which sold 11,941 units (lifetime of 232,530 units).

And even though the PS Vita out-sold the New Nintendo 3DS XL last week, the latter rose to the challenge and beat it this week. The New 3DS XL sold 19,475 units while the Vita only managed 14,067 units. The PS4 was the second best-selling console in Japan for this week with 18,171 units sold while the Wii U hung in there with 12,781 units sold.

In the wake of the extremely successful launch that it enjoyed, it is easy to forget that people were actually quite dissatisfied with the reveal of the North American release of the New Nintendo 3DS. There were many reasons for this ire, but the bulk of it was focused on the fact that only the ‘XL’ variant of the new models was launching in the region. The regular sized New 3DS would be skipping the territory, depriving many who prefer smaller handhelds of the system of their choice, and also of the additional perks that it brings, such as the customizable faceplates.

However, if you had given up hope of the new system ever launching in North America at all, don’t! A recent interview that Nintendo of America’s head Reggie Fils-Aime gave Kotaku seems to indicate that a North American launch of the regular sized New 3DS is on Nintendo’s mind.

“We analyzed the results in Japan and saw the lion’s share of the volume was on the XL model, and that’s with no 2DS existing in the Japanese market,” Fils-Aime said. “And so as we thought about: ‘What’s the best line-up for us?’ We thought the new XL and 2DS would be our best line-up. Not going to make any promises but, you know, I would suggest to your readers that they stay tuned and maybe some special SKUs might show up.”

Perhaps a launch during the holiday season, to give the 3DS one final push before the NX handheld launches next year? We’ll find out soon. Stay tuned.

Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles 3D has been met with rave reviews from critics but considering it’s a port of the original Wii title, it was a foregone conclusion. However, the fact that the developer brought the game on to the New Nintendo 3DS is an achievement in itself. Director Tetsuya Takahashi in a recent Iwata Asks interview with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata believes that this helps raise the standard for RPGs on portables.

“Now we can play Xenoblade Chronicles on the New Nintendo 3DS XL, and…now, this may sound a little egotistical, but I thought, ‘This is really going to raise the bar for RPGs on portable devices.'”

Takahashi also spoke about the appeal of JRPG protagonists compared to Western RPG heroes. “One difference is that [Xenoblade Chronicles] did a good job of incorporating the innate heroism of JRPGs…allowing the user to become the hero, to become the protagonist. On the other hand, games made in the West – and this is only my personal opinion – they are very well made, down to the last detail, but there’s something stoic about them, and often the heroism aspect seems to take a bit of a back seat.

“In JRPGs, the protagonists aren’t very strong. They seem like people you could meet on the street who just happen to be born to a certain destiny, and are drawn by some force into doing things that they could have never believed possible… But if Westerners really didn’t like that kind of story, Star Wars wouldn’t have become such a hit. Because that movie is just this type of story.”

Thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments.

Nintendo’s newest refresh for its 3DS handheld line, the New Nintendo 3DS and the New Nintendo 3DS XL, launch across Europe and North America today. Multiple stores will be having midnight launches to offer the system right as the clock hits twelve, meaning you won’t have to wait too long to get your hands on Nintendo’s shiny new handheld.

The New Nintendo 3DS line benefits from a bevy of improvements, all of them targeting some very obvious flaws the 3DS handhelds have always had- the most important improvement is the system’s autostereoscopic 3D feature has been notably improved, now including built in head tracking, meaning the 3D effect remains maintained no matter what- you don’t have to hold it steady in a sweet spot like previous 3DS models any more.

In addition, the New 3DS systems also come with new and expanded forms of controls (including a second analog stick, dubbed the C stick, as well as two additional shoulder buttons, the ZL and ZR buttons), support for microSD cards over the older SD cards, better battery life, more processing power, and a screen that automatically adjusts its brightness level. The New 3DS systems also feature support for Nintendo’s Amiibo toys. On the smaller New 3DS models, you can also swap out their faceplates to customize their design.

The New Nintendo 3DS is launching alongside Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D. Both are New 3DS enhanced games, meaning that while they support a lot of the New 3DS’s features, they will also run on all older systems. The first New 3DS exclusive game will launch in April, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, which is a remake of the much acclaimed Wii classic by Monolith Soft.

The New Nintendo 3DS XL actually makes a very compelling case for itself- better build quality, more premium finish, better ergonomics, better screen, a 3D effect that does not break and does not require the infamous ‘sweet spot,’ new control additions, including a second analog stick, and two more shoulder buttons, minor quality of life improvements such as a screen that automatically adjusts its brightness based on ambient light levels… that said, it is still possible that existing 3DS owners need more convincing.

Well, if that’s the case, then you’re in luck- Nintendo will be bringing the New 3DS XL to PAX South in San Antonio, Texas, and it will be fully playable there, so you can check it out and go hands on with it for yourself.

PAX South will run from January 23-25, and the New 3DS XL will be playable all three of those days on the showfloor at Nintendo’s booth. if you live in Texas, it might not be a bad idea to make a road trip to San Antonio this weekend.

I live in Texas. Guess what I am doing this Friday.

The New Nintendo 3DS and the New Nintendo 3DS XL, the newest entrants into the ever growing Nintendo 3DS family, will be launching in North America and Europe on February 13, Nintendo confirmed today during their Nintendo Direct broadcast.

The New Nintendo 3DS is a thorough and extensive revision of the system, featuring a second analog stick (the C stick), two new shoulder buttons (ZL and ZR, bringing the total up to four), a faster and beefed up processor (which makes the OS snappier, and also helps games run better), a move to microSD cards for storage, and a new face tracking feature which ensures that the 3D image on screen is never broken (past 3DS systems have required you to hold the system in a sweet spot to maintain the 3D image).

Europe is lucky here, as it will be getting both, the New Nintendo 3DS, and the New Nintendo 3DS XL; North America just gets the bigger model (retailing for $200), which of course will be an issue, because a size choice is always great, not to mention that faceplates are exclusive to the smaller model.

Still though, it sounds like Nintendo is planning on sticking with the 3DS for a while now, and upgrading to a New system isn’t half bad an idea, especially considering the wealth of New 3DS enhanced games (such as Monster Hunter and Super Smash Bros.) as well as exclusives (such as Xenoblade Chronicles 3D).

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more information.

In light of the 2DS and New 3DS XL in Japan, Nintendo has announced (translated by Siliconera) that it will be discontinuing the manufacture and sale of the 3DS XL in Japan. That’s the old one, for those who didn’t know, and does not include the 3DS at this time.

As of now, the New 3DS XL is available in Japan and Australia only so those in Europe or the United States who are worried about their older devices can relax. Speaking to GameSpot, Nintendo stated that the “Nintendo 3DS XL is still available in Europe and no announcements have been made.”

The New 3DS XL will be releasing in 2015 for the West though no details have been provided yet. Those who live in Japan who want to partake in Nintendo’s handheld offerings will need to pick up the new models though. What are your thoughts on the older 3DS XL model being discontinued? Let us know in the comments.