Nintendo 3DS sales shot up 45 percent in 2013

[Shawn Knight]

Nintendo’s Wii U isn’t nearly as successful as the company might have hoped for but the same can’t be said about the 3DS. Despite the fact that smartphones now account for the majority of mobile gaming, Nintendo has managed to sell 34.98 million 3DS consoles worldwide (which includes the 3DS XL and the 2DS) as of September 30.

Broken down further, Nintendo moved 11.5 million handhelds in the US alone which accounts for about a third of all 3DS family sales. That’s impressive when you consider the 3DS got off to a rocky start with a high price tag and a lack of quality titles.

As you might have guessed, game sales are also up. The company said they sold more than 16 million combined retail and digital 3DS games in North America during 2013. That’s good for a healthy 45 percent increase compared to 2012 but the real kicker is worldwide game sales – 122 million as of September 30.

Nintendo of America marketing executive Scott Moffitt said the 3DS is a powerhouse with games and experiences that appeal to all kinds of players. The best days, however, are still ahead for the 3DS in 2014 and beyond, he said.

To drive home that point, Nintendo announced that Yoshi’s New Island will be available starting March 14 in stores and online. What’s more, the new Super Smash Bros. title is expected to come down the pipeline sometime in 2014 as well.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/55288-nintendo-3ds-sales-shot-up-45-percent-in-2013.html

 

[Guest]

Of course sales increased now that the Nintendo Pokémon Machine has Pokémon X & Y.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

As a kid who grew up with the original Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda, I'm glad to see Nintendo has been able to stay in the game.

 

[GhostRyder]

What helped the 3DS alot is the 2DS option (Since those figure count towards the 3DS) and the recent game launches. New Ace Attorney, the Pokemon games, and more have helped get the Handheld off the ground. Honestly if they had waited on its release till more games were available, we never would have even heard the console was doing bad.

 

[BlueDrake]

Certain games pretty much lead to a higher purchase rate, especially in Japan which was the first major shot in the arm. I know people would likely overlook Animal Crossing in all this, but that really I'm sure drove up a lot of sales also. We obviously had really interesting titles coming up through the mid-late 2013, so it helped really bring in more purchases of the 3DS and 2DS.

Given the 2DS is pretty much likely the most expensive, a parent would consider for kids while including games. Obviously this is in no relation to consoles, being they are on a completely different level altogether. Also $400-500 gift is hard to really justify sometimes, not saying it doesn't actually happen though.