http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/85877/nine-weeks-in-3ds-sales-have-dropped-to-wonderswan-levels/

This recent article on this site, it says that the 3DS has fallen off to "Wonderswan level" in sales (in Japan).  Well, the Wii sold LESS than even the 3DS as the 3DS fell behind the PS3 and 360.  So, the two part question I have is:

1. What is meant by "Wonderswan level" for sales?

2. If the Wii is now selling worse than the 3DS does that mean the Wii is now selling below Wonderswan levels?

If you can read Katakana, the sytem named on the bottom is "wonderswan." When they said 3DS fell to "Wonderswan" levels, they meant it literally, not some figurative demeaning phrase.

In the same week from launch, in sold the same as a failed handheld from maybe 10-15 years ago called the Wonderswan.

It means my prediction of the NGP outselling the 3DS is looking more clearer to people :)

Maybe. But both consoles may fail to sell well based on their own [lack of] merit.

Maybe, but I see this in the article:

What are your thoughts? Are you waiting for a 3DS price drop or the launch of a particular title, or did you pick up a 3DS of your own and can't understand why the sales are so shoddy?

The article used the graph to say that the 3DS sales are "shoddy" and then I have seen that, both in Japan and the rest of the world, the Wii has dropped below it.

Yeah basically it's saying that the 3DS' weekly sales 9 weeks in is identical to how much the Wonderswan was selling 9 weeks in (we're talking Japanese sales of course. Wonderswan was only sold in Japan). Honestly I'm not surprised. The Wonderswan was dirt, dirt cheap (black and white handheld in 1999) whereas the 3DS costs an arm and a leg and I'd imagine the Wonderswan had some pretty good games (obviously not as extensive as the GBC/GBA libraries though). I know Square released remakes of Final Fantasy I, II and IV on the Wonderswan Color instead of the GBC/GBA in the early 2000s (this was back when Square wasn't releasing any games on Nintendo systems). I'm assuming they did that to "stick it" to Nintendo at the time. 

Originally I was going to wait, but I got a really sweet deal on Amazon so I picked it up right at launch. I'm loving it but I also understand why sales are slow to pick up. Not only are there not enough titles, it's hard to really appreciate what the 3DS has to offer unless you play it in real life. I expect sales to pick up faster and faster overtime as there is more exposure and people start to really get what it means.

Also, software.

*Edit* Price is also an issue. I don't expect the 3DS' high price to last as long as most Nitnendo consoles hold their original pricing.

On the other hand, DS was easily the most popular system in the history of Japan, and 3DS is it's direct successor. While Gunpei Yokoi was behind the Wonderswan and it was dirt cheap, it was going head-to-head with Pokemon era GB and GBC. There are reasons the 3DS should be selling better.

And to answer the OP's question, yes, Wii sales are also pretty low. But it's aging and Nintendo are only developing a few games for it anymore, having moved on to 3DS and Cafe. 3DS they were hoping to launch with large sales.

Yeah the lacking software and price is really hurting the 3DS right now.

There are also people like me who can't see stereoscopic 3D very well and this is a pretty significantly large minority to boot (my eye doc confirmed to me in an eye test 2 years ago that I can't see the "popping" 3D effect very well. I had no f'n clue I had this problem until I took the test. This isn't an issue that effects my day-to-day living at all so it went undiagnosed for most of my life. I went to see Avatar and Megamind and wondered what the big f'n deal was. The 3D effect was pretty underwhelming for me). And then there are many more people who get headaches from playing in 3D. Basically humans tend to have a lot of eye problems and by ignoring this fact, Nintendo is alienating a huge chunk of the human population. Heck Nintendo is even flat-out saying that no one under 7 should be using the 3DS. Right on the game box. Which will accomplish nothing more than freaking parents out (but I understand why they did it. Nintendo doesn't want to open themselves up to getting sued. lol). Which for sure is going to freak out a lot of parents. The hype surrounding 3D movies is also dying down. In part for the above reasons (but also because people are tired of the 3D gimmick being shoved down their throats and all the shitty 3D movies that released last year).

Yes you can turn the 3D off. But then who wants to pay $250 for the 3D tech when you are forced to turn the 3D off? And the profit margins on that thing are apparently pretty big right?

I don't know why Nintendo had to take such a big risk with 3D though. There are way too many obstacles that Nintendo has to deal with. I understand why Nintendo feels the need to "be different". They fear Apple and Google. They know that touch-screen gaming is no longer innovative, it's basically an industry standard now. You can make touchscreen games on iOS and Android devices as well as the NGP. But you know what? When the NES came around and the game industry laughed at it because they felt that home computers made dedicated game consoles irrelevant, Nintendo showed them whose boss and they didn't rely on a gimmick to do it.

Nintendo should have conducted business as usual and released a DS2 for $180 with the DS standard $30 games. It would have been way more successful without all the obstacles of the alienating 3DS. Games sell hardware. Not gimmicks. The Wii sold because the games were fun (to the mass market). Not because of the motion control gimmick. Smart devices are basically portable computers. If home game consoles can survive despite the existence of home computers without having to resort to a gimmick, portable gaming handhelds can survive despite the existence of smart devices without resorting to gimmicks. Besides aren't they coming out with Android smartphones that can do glass-less stereoscopic 3D? So much for trying to differentiate oneself from your competitors by utilizing 3D hardware. The best way to differentiate yourself from the smart devices is to create killer apps you won't find on those smart devices (and the NGP). That's how NES differentiated itself from the home computers. It's all about the games.