The much talked-about 3DS price drop had the desired effect in the United States, helping to shift 235,000 units of the machine in August.
Of those sales, 185,000 machines sold after the price drop on 12th August, a 260% increase on the same period in the July. The upped sales were enough to take it to second place in the console charts, though it's not quite been able to replicate the machine's initial success that saw it shift 400,000 units in just four days.
Interestingly Nintendo didn't single out any 3DS software titles for particular praise, but once again repeats its mantra of Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and today's launch of Star Fox 64 3D.
The full release is below.
Nintendo 3DS Sales Up 260 Percent Following Price Reduction
Nintendo sold more than 235,000 Nintendo 3DS™ portable entertainment systems in the United States in August, and the system finished as the No. 2 best-selling dedicated game system for the month, according to the NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. About 185,000 units were sold following a price reduction on Aug. 12, an increase of more than 260 percent during the comparable 19-day time period in July.
“Consumers are responding very positively to the new suggested retail price of $169.99 for the Nintendo 3DS,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “With Star Fox 64 3D and the new Flame Red color launching tomorrow, and Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 arriving later this year, Nintendo 3DS will offer consumers cutting-edge entertainment and tremendous value this holiday season.”
Other Nintendo milestones reached in August include:
Nintendo sold more than 590,000 total hardware units in August, including more than 190,000 Wii™ systems and more than 165,000 units of the Nintendo DS™ family.
For the third month in a row, the majority of the best-selling software SKUs play on Nintendo platforms. August featured five of the top 10 and 15 of the top 20.
So far in 2011, more than 50 million units of software have been sold for Nintendo platforms.
In total, 540 million units of software have been sold for the Wii system and Nintendo DS family of systems combined.
Comments 41
It might help if they pull off the ds family.
It will not last. The 3DS is by no means out of trouble imo.
Make the special edition of Pokemon Black & White a 3DS exclusive (but don't call it 'Grey version'). Then just sit back and watch the money print.
A few Touch Generations type games should help win over the Brain Training crowd too.
There needs to be an increase in rates of software production....
Its a good console.
what was 1?
what was the number one selling console is what I'm wondering...
@TheAmazingRaccoon you just HAD to beat me to it didn't you...
Blind guess here: #1 was the 360?
@ 5&8 #1 was the Xbox 360
Can't believe there's still people doubting the 3DS's success.
The poor thing hasn't even been through one holiday season yet.
Just give it room to grow.
man i wish pokemon black and white was for 3DS instead of DS... im my opinion we didnt need yet another DS pokemon game. i bought a 3DS at launch and had to play a lame pixelated blurry mess unless i held down start and select.
can you imagine 3DS sales if they had pokemon as a launch title?!?
It's Nintendos second best launch of a system and have been selling great for months now. They where never in trouble in the first place. And with a Mario and Mario Kart title coming in the holidays along with a upcoming Monster Hunter they're gonna do even better.
They didn't say anything about Kid Icarus launching later this year...
@ Kid_A
On Wikipedia it says that Kid Icarus is targeted for a November 2011. Either Nintendo doesn't consider the title a major one like Mario Kart and Super Mario, or they truly are thinking of releasing it next year. But I bet it's simply the former.
They've said Kid Icarus is coming out this year everywhere except for Europe which is getting it early 2012.
It may be only short term, but it shows that people wanted the 3DS
It definitely worked on me. I already had one, but it got me to pick up one for my girlfriend!
Nintendo just prints money. but lets see if this keeps up for the long run, but i have a feeling it will with strong titles coming out in the near future. Imma pick me up a 3ds soon, too many strong titles out there to resist any longer. I hope now people will stop their conplaining about nothing good to play on the system.
Yeah look at Nintendo's Christmas lineup, Mario Kart 7 and Mario 3D Land. I reckon the 3DS is OK.
@thanos, except this time each sale is lost money, not money made. Of course they hope to make up the difference with software and accessory sales.
As far as the 3DS never having been in trouble, @1Robb92, that's a pretty ridiculous thing to say, seeing how Nintendo itself seemed to think it was in big trouble and needed a precent setting price drop to get it going.
Hopefully this does the trick, though actually I kind of hope that Nintendo gets out of the console hardware business and starts making games for other systems, similar to what Sega did, albeit hopefully a lot better!
sniff I'm so sniff happy.
@Crunc
Not really. The problem Nintendo had was that the 3DS didn't meat their own expectations and that their stocks fell. As I said, it's their second best launch of a system ever. Hardly anything to worry about. They just have high standards.
And Nintendo have said that if they go out of the console business they will stop with gaming altogether. So that'd suck IMO. They'd probably go in to some other business. Before gaming they made card games and stuff. So they'll probably just change business if they feel as if gaming is no longer profitable.
I think after Christmas when Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart are out, and other big titles are in the pipeline, we will really see the 3DS take flight. This is a great start, and I am so happy, because it's a great handheld. Give it time, the 3DS is still an infant in gaming terms.
Yay Nintendo, still waiting for new games. You know, starfox is old and you can get it for 10€ from Wii Shop...
I still think the 3DS will do ok, and getting the console out there is half the task.
Many people have less money at the moment though, so I really think Nintendo should also improve the content of the e-shop (VC and 3DSware) as an affordable alternative to retail releases.
@TLink9 (#1)
This. The original DS line is holding the 3DS back. People might look at the price difference and figure, "I can just get a normal DS. It's cheaper than this 3DS thing."
Yes casual consumers really do think like that. Price is a very important factor when deciding on a purchase. Also, the 3DS is now the same price as a DSiXL, meaning the old DS line should be cheaper (or just discontinued).
@tendoboy1984 I don't think it should be discontinued, but I understand what you are trying to say. But the 3DS overall is is a more powerful system in every way possible, and is worth more.]
And Congratulations Nintendo. I knew everything would turn around. Next time, don't price things so high (Thinking about the WiiU)
Hm, the DS still had a rockey star- I think even worse than 3DS and that picked up the following holiday season a year after it's release. When Holiday 2005 came round, things immediately picked up with Animal Crossing and Mario Kart DS (first online games on the system), but this time, the 3DS is getting it's bigger hits much earlier than the DS did. Lots of games I'm looking forward to on 3DS. Far from a failure in my eyes. If only certain decisions were thought out carefully and done correctly because even though the DS had worse start, it's not 2005. It's 2011. Digging yourself in a hole isn't good these days or even safe for companies.
Well, this is certainly good news. The price-drop definitely convinced me to buy one, and I can see these figures rising during the holidays
I know! I just bought another one today! I love my new Red 3ds!
260%? That's a good start, but it's not enough! Bring on the bros!
Great!
Now, just sit back, and wait for the holiday season to arrive. By then, no one is going to be questioning Nintendo's financial stability for a looooooooong time.
3DS is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! XD I agree! @SuperLink
"3DS Sales Jump 260 Percent in US After Price Drop"
I knew it! Good news!
I wait untill next year though. I first want to see what happens now that the analogue stick peripheral has been revealed. Maybe there will be a new 3DS design in a few months!
Now maybe I'll actually run into someone every couple of months with streetpass now.
Huh... it suprises me that the 3DS didn't make this many sales last month after the price drop. I mean, the drop was (I think) Aug. 12. There was a lot of time to buy one last month... I guess people were waiting for the Flame Red color.
i'm obsessed with my 3DS
its only gonna get better for VC gamers
the only thing it's missing is a phone
it's time for the "ds family" (ds lite to XL) to go...
ninty is releasing the DS XL in metalic rose this month. i don't think the 'ds family' is going anywhere for a bit.
Very good sign, I always said the 3DS was priced too high, but bought it anyway at $250 on launch day. Did I regret buying it at the price, a little, but now I am going to be getting 10 GBA games.
Yeah, they need to stop supporting original DS line. Games like CoD are still being made on the original DS.
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