Nintendo Predicts 4 Million 3DS Sales in First Month

[Logan Westbrook]

Nintendo Predicts 4 Million 3DS Sales in First Month

The first 30 or so days of the 3DS are going to be pretty good, according to Nintendo's estimates.

Despite a fairly hefty price tag for a handheld, Nintendo is still expecting some pretty impressive sales for the 3DS. Nintendo estimates that it will sell around 4 million units by the end of March, as well as 15 million 3DS games.

This figure was part of a revised set of sales estimates from the company, which are significantly reduced from their previous levels. Originally, Nintendo had predicted around 30 million DS sales - including those of the 3DS - by the end of March, but has now cut that number down to 23.5 million over all.

The company has also reduced its estimates for DS software sales by around 17%, cutting the previously predicted 150 million units down to 125 million. Nintendo is blaming lower than expected sales figures and the unexpected appreciation of the yen, as well as missing the holidays sales window with the 3DS, for the revised figures.

4 million units is a big number, especially in just a few weeks, but given the buzz around the 3DS, it doesn't seem all that unlikely at all, especially if the worldwide release is fairly early on in March. The $250 - $300 cost will be a stumbling block however, and opinions are split over whether the 3DS is worth that much.

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/41118/Nintendo-predicts-4m-3DS-sales-by-March-2011]


Permalink

 

[8bitmaster]

all I have to say is that it probably won't with the price tag. Not enough people will buy it for remakes, especially upon launch.

 

[Jared]

It all depends. The price tag is still pretty steep, and I know unless something drastic this way comes ill be leaving it a little while

 

[irishdude]

i would buy 1 at 200euros just for mgs3 but 250-300 is out of my price range

 

[Canid117]

Well it is the Nintendo audience and they will buy anything shiny enough.

 

[Lacsapix]

I bought the first ds on the first day.
no way I am buying a 3ds....

 

[Autofaux]

It's definitely doable, but that price is steep. They could've pulled it off with tassels and fireworks if the world's economy wasn't in the shitter.

 

[teh_Canape]

"a man can dream, a man can dream".- prof Hubert Farnsworth

really, it's interesting as a piece of technology, just not interesting enough for me to buy it =P

 

[Nvv]

i would buy 1 at 200euros just for mgs3 but 250-300 is out of my price range

Dollars not Euro, big-ish difference.

 

[theaceplaya]

I'll buy it on day one. I missed out on the DS generation and don't want to miss out on the 3DS generation. Also since I have a rough estimate of what it will cost I can start saving now. I am genuinely excited!

 

[irishdude]

i would buy 1 at 200euros just for mgs3 but 250-300 is out of my price range

Dollars not Euro, big-ish difference.

and in ireland it will be more, cos when i bought my ps3 on the release day it was 640, 40 euro tax on top, what a bastard it was,

 

[Tom Phoenix]

i would buy 1 at 200euros just for mgs3 but 250-300 is out of my price range

Dollars not Euro, big-ish difference.

Indeed it is. Unfortunately, not only do retailers not care about the difference, they sometimes even further increase the price just to add insult to injury. Here are the initial retail prices for the DS line of handhelds:

Spoiler

DS
UK: 99.99 GBP
Europe: 149.99 EUR
US: 149.99 USD
Japan: 15,000 JPY

DS Lite
UK: 99.99 GBP
Europe: 149.99 EUR
US: 129.99 USD
Japan: 16,800 JPY

DSi
UK: 149.99 GBP
Europe: 169.99 EUR
US: 169.99 USD
Japan: 18,900 JPY

DSi XL/LL
UK: 159.99 GBP
Europe: 179.99 EUR
US: 189.99 USD
Japan: 20,000 JPY

As you can see, not only did they use a 1:1 conversion rate for most of the time, they even increased the price with the DS Lite. Only the XL was lower....but considering that still meant that Europeans had to pay over 50$ more than Americans, that is of little comfort.

This is precisely the reason why we Europeans await the US pricing nervously....beacuse we known that whatever the price may be, we will be paying even more than that. So if the price ends up being 250 USD in the US, then you can be certain we will be paying 250+ EUR in Europe.

 

[Catalyst6]

I didn't shell out 200 bucks for a 3D tv, why would I buy a handheld with a tiny screen for the *visuals*?

 

[Quaidis]

I will not buy one of those 4 million first-month units. Why when I already acquired a ds lite earlier this year? But I could logically see that statistic if it's worldwide.

 

[Jandau]

I fear Nintendo might be digging themselves into the same hole Sony dug during the initial PS3 launch. Sure, your product is all cutting edge and shiny, but it's so freaking expensive nobody can buy it. Personally, if I had $300 lying around I'd buy a PS3 or a 360, not a handheld with a tiny screen. So no, I don't think they'll sell 4 million in the first month.

Also, what's their target audience? I also have a nagging feeling Nintendo might have sabotaged the 3DS with their own DS. What I mean by that is that the DS has covered the mobile gaming market thoroughly (at least the part that is actually focused on gaming instead of gaming being a secondary activity) that there's not much of it left untapped, and people who bought the DS are likely still quite satisfied with that one.

Overall, I feel that 3DS is going to cost too much and not have a market to sell itself to. Granted, the Japanese might go crazy about it, but that's it...

 

[mjc0961]

Well it is the Nintendo audience and they will buy anything shiny enough.

No, that's Apple's fanbase. Thanks for playing though.

I didn't shell out 200 bucks for a 3D tv, why would I buy a handheld with a tiny screen for the *visuals*?

To be fair, I'd bet that the reason you didn't shell out $200 for a 3DTV is because nobody is selling a reasonably sized 3DTV for that little. I doubt anyone is selling ANY sized 3DTV for that price, actually.

 

[Catalyst6]

I didn't shell out 200 bucks for a 3D tv, why would I buy a handheld with a tiny screen for the *visuals*?

To be fair, I'd bet that the reason you didn't shell out $200 for a 3DTV is because nobody is selling a reasonably sized 3DTV for that little. I doubt anyone is selling ANY sized 3DTV for that price, actually.

You're missing the point. A $200 handheld that prides itself on a display function is just ridiculous, what with the tiny screen and all. Games for the DS have always been largely about the gimmicks, but they were always based around the touch, not the visuals.

It's like when they started releasing movies for the PSP. "Yes, you could, but why would you want to"?

 

[Cynical skeptic]

Kinda tired of hearing people call this cutting edge. The only real difference between the DS and the 3DS is a prismed, polarized screen.

The rest is a firmware update, maybe a newer graphics chip.

Which is about the same as what the wii added to the gamecube...

 

[Canid117]

Well it is the Nintendo audience and they will buy anything shiny enough.

No, that's Apple's fanbase. Thanks for playing though.

Apple's fanbase definitely has it worse but Nintendo has a bit of it too.


(If and Apple fanboys wish to dispute this then take a look at the new Nano and if you can tell me with a straight face that it is not too small then you are missing a few brain cells)