Are You Sure Nintendo is “Teh Doomed”?

Nintendo recently sent out a press release with numbers that surprised me. Apparently the Nintendo 3DS is on pace to outsell the Nintendo DS. Using the U.S. sales figures for the DS and the first eight months of the 3DS’ sales, Nintendo’s number crunchers came up with some interesting findings. Check ’em out:

In its eighth month on the market, the Nintendo 3DS system crossed 1.65 million units sold in the U.S., according to the NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. This milestone puts the platform on track to surpass the first-year total of Nintendo DS, the best-selling game platform in U.S. history.

The Nintendo DS system sold 2.37 million units in its first 12 months (November 2004-October 2005), with approximately 50 percent of those sales occurring in the holiday time frame. With its first holiday season and the launches of the Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 games on the horizon, Nintendo 3DS is poised to eclipse that number and establish a new benchmark for hand-held gaming launches in the United States.

I’m not smart enough to argue with NPD numbers, but I’m sure some of you are (or married to someone that is), so have at it! The one thing to keep in mind is that Nintendo is talking strictly in terms of unit sales. Given the complexity of the 3DS, the current economic climate, the increased cost of fuel, and the soaring yen (not my stage name), I’m sure that revenue and profits are another matter entirely.

What do you make of Nintendo’s claim? Are you surprised that the 3DS is on pace to outsell the DS?

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

19 thoughts on “Are You Sure Nintendo is “Teh Doomed”?”

  1. I'm getting one because of Mario. I wanted Starfox and Zelda but Mario sold me.

    A million units in one quarter to go? We'll see. It's a new market these days.

  2. I'd love to add to these sales numbers. Especially if any rumors about Pokemon Gray being a 3DS exclusive turns out to be true. Regardless I'd love to play Mario and Starfox. The multiplayer on Starfox looks like the most fun to me.

  3. Nintendo is not "teh doomed" and will not be "teh doomed" for a long time. They screwed up on the 3DS release. Then again, who doesn't make a big mistake every once in a while? Nintendo has the Virtual Boy, Sony has the PSPgo, Xbox has… uh… help here?

      1. Well, there's that, but it didn't affect every system. And still doesn't (supposedly). Regarding Microsoft's consoles, there's never been a complete and total failure in their lifespan. Of course, if you bring in phones and tablets… Maybe. But I wouldn't know.

    2. True one big flub doesn't necessarily kill your business. However our world is going portable at an extremely fast pace and this is quite possibly the last Nintendo handheld that is dedicated to gaming only that will sell.

      Will they sell over 750k units this Christmas season? Possible, very likely. Over 1 million? Pushing it.

      Next year? I'd wager not.

      I'm not basing on this on Nintendo hate either. I love Nintendo. I think you can look at the point and shoot market as an idea of how this market will go. Or the portable video camera market.

      1. I agree. The one big mistake Nintendo could make right now would be their saying "Screw the internet! We have Mario!"
        Sometimes, I think their developers look at their computer and say "Hey, I've never seen this site before. Wonder what it is…?" Then, when Facebook loads, swat teams burst through the windows and drag the poor man along to the dungeons to work on "My Little Pony" games, while smashing the computer with a wrench. A red wrench. In a week or so, he'd be put on trial for not adhering to the "Friend Code" system.

      3. I understand their stances on trying to promote in person co-op gaming instead of stereotypical impersonal online gaming, as well as their thoughts on wanting to take steps towards protecting younger children who go online; however, the friend code is one of the worst ideas ever. As long as they keep the friend code system I can't honestly think that they are getting better at internet integration

      5. While it's good that downloadable games are getting better on Nintendo, the multiplayer aspect is a pretty big issue. Friend codes are a horrible idea to still be sticking with.

  4. I'm not surprised really. I know some people believe that iOS devices will overtake this chunk of the market, but I really believe that there's really a difference between the "I'm killing some time" games that tend to permeate those devices (there are some exceptions) and the hardcore titles one can expect to find on a SONY of Nintendo handheld platform. I really believed that the biggest reason the 3DS started so slow out of the gate was it's truly lackluster launch title lineup. Better games coming out should push the 3DS to better sales.

    My personal issues with the 3DS are related to the 3D aspect of it. 3D tech, whether it be in a theater, a 3D TV or on a Nintendo 3DS gives me a whopping migraine. As such, if I'm just going to turn the 3D off, I don't really see the point of buying a new DS. It also doesn't help that many of Nintendo's games just generally don't appeal to me anymore. The one game on the 3DS that I can say without a doubt I would have liked to have played was Ocarina of Time…..but since I already own it on the Gamecube (we have the promotional disk that came with Windwaker), I didn't see the point.

  6. Haha nintendos internet is fine, look at the wii, with crappy interenet, and graphics…but it sold didnt it? and they will always do what is needed to get sales…I think their history speaks for itself. The next Wii will have HD, and better online and make sony fan boys, and x-box junkies mad, b/c nintendo is bad cuz they say so and their system i better blah blah….

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