When the Nintendo 3DS was first launched, it went nowhere fast. The console, with its no-glasses-required 3D gaming experience, just didn’t attract much of the crowd. Many complained that Nintendo did not have enough 3D games ready to go upon the launch of the new console. Others just didn’t like the 3D look.
But Nintendo stuck with it. Apparently they believed in their product (and didn’t panic). Launched at the beginning of the summer of 2011 at a price of $250, by the end of the summer they marked it down to $170. That, and the development of more games, appears to have done the trick.
Yesterday the company announced that they had sold 4 million Nintendo 3DS in the US during the nine months of 2011 that the console was available. That almost equals the number of Nintendo Wii’s that they sold during the entire year (4.5 million).
Nintendo also said that Mario and Zelda. Super Mario 3D Land, and Mario Kart 7, were the fastest selling games for the Nintendo 3DS, with over a million of each sold in the US.
Overall, Nintendo sold over 12 million Wii’s, 3DS’s, and other DS systems in the US during 2011. That makes last year the fifth year in a row that Nintendo has sold that many units in the US.