Nintendo's 3DS Brand Conquers February 2015's Hardware Sales

[StewShearerOld]

Nintendo's 3DS Brand Conquers February 2015's Hardware Sales

Sony and Microsoft both reported big sales boosts last month, but it was Nintendo and the 3DS family that reigned supreme.

The PS4 wasn't <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139835-PS4-Outsells-Xbox-One-Again-in-January-2015>the top selling hardware brand in February 2015. Granted, it's not <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139058-Xbox-One-Top-Selling-Console-in-November>the first time that's happened since the console first in 2013, but it's the first we can recall that it was trounced by the 3DS.

Citing <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/npd%20group?os=npd+group>NPD reports, Nintendo has announced that its various 3DS handhelds sold nearly 400,000 units over the course of February 2015. The portable's sales were bolstered, of course, by the launch of the New 3DS XL which, on its own, solid more than 150,000 portables. "The one-two-three punch of New Nintendo 3DS XL, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate helped Nintendo 3DS become the top-selling hardware platform in the United States in February," said Nintendo in a statement. "Through the first two months of 2015, sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware have increased by more than 90 percent over sales in the same period in 2014." Sales of the Wii U have apparently also enjoyed a sales boost of more than 20 percent when compared to the same period last year.

Despite failing to capture the top hardware spot, Sony also had a good month. The PS4 remained the bestselling home-console, with its total sales rising up to "more than 20.2 million units sold to consumers worldwide." Microsoft likewise reported an impressive increase in year-on-year sales for the Xbox One. According to the company, the console's sales increased 84 percent in February compared to the same month in 2014. In other words, it was a good month for everyone, though a better one for some.

Source: GameSpot


Permalink

 

[mad825]

If Nintendo's marketing didn't make things confusing it's sure shown in this article....Or is it just I who's confused?

 

[gigastar]

Im more curious about which game sold better, Majoras Mask 3D or MH4U.

 

[pearcinator]

Im more curious about which game sold better, Majoras Mask 3D or MH4U.

MM3D sold over 500k in US alone

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/majoras-mask-3d-was-the-best-selling-video-game-in-february-over-500k-units#.VQOPt46Ufwo

 

[Alrom]

Im more curious about which game sold better, Majoras Mask 3D or MH4U.

MM3D sold over 500k in US alone

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/majoras-mask-3d-was-the-best-selling-video-game-in-february-over-500k-units#.VQOPt46Ufwo

Apparently MH4U sold about 300k copies.

 

[MazokuRanma]

Im more curious about which game sold better, Majoras Mask 3D or MH4U.

MM3D sold over 500k in US alone

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/majoras-mask-3d-was-the-best-selling-video-game-in-february-over-500k-units#.VQOPt46Ufwo

MM3D outsold MH4U in NA, but when compared to worldwide sales numbers, MH4U completely crushes MM3D.

MM3D JP Sales: 365,761 as of 3/12/2015 (http://purenintendo.com/2015/03/12/japanese-sales-chart-3ds-faces-stiff-competition-week-ending-mar-8-2015/)

MM3D NA Sales: 515,000 as of 3/01/2015 (http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/12/february-2014-npd-ps4-3ds/)

It is worth noting that the JP sales don't indicate whether or not digital copies are included, while the NA article does.

MH4U JP + NA Sales: More than 3 million, both physical and digital, as of the end of the first month of US sales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Hunter_4#Sales)

MH4U does have the advantage in that it released in the JP market on 10/11/2014, but it sold 1.4 million in just the first two days. MH is immensely popular in Japan, and Zelda simply has no real chance of touching it there. It's likely that MM3D will stay ahead of MH4U in the US, but it will never reach the same lifetime sales numbers.

 

[Skeleon]

How fitting, I actually just bought a 3DS (was it January or February?) bundled with Luigi's Mansion 2. I guess I'm not the only one to wait for prices to at least lower a little.

 

[moggett88]

I've seen a lot of people saying the sales would have been even higher if Nintendo had sent out more stock, but I just walked into Game and picked one up without pre-ordering or anything. Was there genuinely a stock shortage? My local Game has some of the rudest staff I've ever seen, so I'm never sure if it's representative...

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Edit: fixed some of my horrible grammatical errors

Huh? Nintendo's mid-gen upgrade caused a ton of units to move? Maybe that's why they've been doing this for every handheld since the Game Boy Color proved popular in the mid-90s.

How fitting, I actually just bought a 3DS (was it January or February?) bundled with Luigi's Mansion 2. I guess I'm not the only one to wait for prices to at least lower a little.

That's what I've been trying to tell people who ask, "wut console should I buy for this generation?" Well, if you're not dead set on one particular brand, you should wait for prices for the systems and current games to drop and more games to be out.

I waited until 2013's Black Friday to see if any 3DS bundles would be on sale. I lucked out, because I got the Zelda themed 3DS XL, which included A Link Between Worlds, for less than the regular cost of a 3DS XL with no game. If I didn't find that deal, I would have waited for another sale later.

(Also, good choice. Luigi's Mansion 2 is really good.)

I've seen a lot of people saying the sales would have been even higher if Nintendo had sent out more stock, but I just walked into Game and picked one up without pre-ordering or anything. Was there genuinely a stock shortage? My local Game has some of the rudest staff I've ever seen, so I'm never sure if it's representative...

The shortages are mostly here in the US (and maybe Canada is affected too), because of the west coast dock workers' strike that just ended. That's one reason why the internet is lit up about shortages, scalpers and "Nintendo not knowing how to keep supply meeting demand." It's all of us over here griping. Also, it goes both ways. The strike is causing a French fry/chip shortage in Asia.

I would imagine Nintendo did make enough of their new handheld for each region to meet initial demand. The Amiibo shortage across the world (even in Japan!) is another story.

 

[EHKOS]

Wish I could have helped, but I bought a 3DS XL used, was the only option for me. But good on Nintendo. Now, is the NEW 3DS running better hardware or what? Because I just want to play Pokemon. Let me have my Pokemon. AND TELL US WHO THE 'ONE' IS. The phantom chick creeps me out.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Wish I could have helped, but I bought a 3DS XL used, was the only option for me. But good on Nintendo. Now, is the NEW 3DS running better hardware or what? Because I just want to play Pokemon. Let me have my Pokemon. AND TELL US WHO THE 'ONE' IS. The phantom chick creeps me out.

Besides the c-stick, extra shoulder buttons and face tracking 3D, the Nu 3DS has some more processing power. It's like the Game Boy Color, GBA SP, and DSi before it, a slight upgrade to the hardware with a few games that are exclusive or have exclusive features for that hardware (except for the SP, unless you count games that had color palette options that look better with or w/o the backlight). The only game announced so far that needs a "New 3DS" is the Xenoblade remake.

I don't think Nintendo will make too many games that are exclusive to the New 3DS, possibly only more graphic intensive titles. Hopefully, they won't do that with Pokemon. The better 3DS alone is being used as a major selling point. Maybe they will also tout the c-stick functionality on future games, like they did with Majora's Mask. Honestly, I don't see any reason in getting one (especially considering these mid-gen upgrades happen about two years before a completely new handheld comes out), unless my 3DS XL asplodes or a Metroid game comes out exclusively for the New 3DS.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Well, what else is new. Nintendo handhelds have outsold most other things on a fairly regular basis going back a long time.
Typically, to get anything else in the 'top spot' sales-wise, you have to exclude handhelds from your calculations.

 

[Objectable]

Does the Vita even exist anymore?

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

Does the Vita even exist anymore?

Well it outsells the Wii U weekly world wide so yeah.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I wonder if Sony is upset that MH4U is exclusive to the 3DS seeing how MU is quite popular in Japan? (Before you asked, I bought that but not LoZ: MM just yet.)

 

[EHKOS]

Wish I could have helped, but I bought a 3DS XL used, was the only option for me. But good on Nintendo. Now, is the NEW 3DS running better hardware or what? Because I just want to play Pokemon. Let me have my Pokemon. AND TELL US WHO THE 'ONE' IS. The phantom chick creeps me out.

Besides the c-stick, extra shoulder buttons and face tracking 3D, the Nu 3DS has some more processing power. It's like the Game Boy Color, GBA SP, and DSi before it, a slight upgrade to the hardware with a few games that are exclusive or have exclusive features for that hardware (except for the SP, unless you count games that had color palette options that look better with or w/o the backlight). The only game announced so far that needs a "New 3DS" is the Xenoblade remake.

I don't think Nintendo will make too many games that are exclusive to the New 3DS, possibly only more graphic intensive titles. Hopefully, they won't do that with Pokemon. The better 3DS alone is being used as a major selling point. Maybe they will also tout the c-stick functionality on future games, like they did with Majora's Mask. Honestly, I don't see any reason in getting one (especially considering these mid-gen upgrades happen about two years before a completely new handheld comes out), unless my 3DS XL asplodes or a Metroid game comes out exclusively for the New 3DS.

Ah, thank you. Yeah, I'm not going to be buying the New one unless a Pokemon exclusive comes out on it. I actually play more DS original games than 3DS ones anyway.

 

[balladbird]

Does the Vita even exist anymore?

sure, 2014 was an excellent year for vita owners, japanese contribution to the console is amazing, since it's pretty popular there. Here in the US it's a bit of a dud, but if you're a fan of japanese devs, as I am, then you've gotten more than your money's worth out of the console in its life.

all that said, there was never a hope of it trumping the 3ds, just as the PSP couldn't hope to trump the DS. I'm just happy the hand-held market isn't a single-company gig anymore.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Does the Vita even exist anymore?

Yup, it's actually selling better than Nintendo's home console. But then again everything is.

 

[Las7]

Does the Vita even exist anymore?

Pretty sure that's just a JRPG machine at this point - that's only selling in Japan.