What?! It was already reported across the internet that 3ds sold 4 mil as of the end of 2011 . Why does VGchartz has that high of a number?

I do, yes. I'm thinking 3DS won't see too many non-nintendo like 3rd party games, 'cos Nintendo systems never do, frankly.

Although I'm sure 3DS will continue to see increased 3rd party efforts, a ton of it will be shovelware, similar to DS, though perhaps not quite as severe. But ino it's a good thing 3DS got games like RE Revelations and MGS, stuff you'd not really expect on a Nintendo system so early in its life cycle. If those type of games do well, we might see more of them. Although then again, we may not, 'cos 3rd parties are just weird when it comes to Nintendo sometimes. I think big-name 3rd party IPs may not be coming to 3DS so much. To WiiU, yes, definitely, but I'd guess the 3DS will be more home to original stuff and spinoffs.

Well it says 4.5m in the first 12 months, making the last month incomplete by a few weeks. A smart guess would be sold through, but it's still puts it overtracked.

The fact of the matter, Nintendo talked about it at their conference. There is a very fine play between catering to the casuals and alienating the core. Of course, it's possible to cater to both at once as has been proven by the NES, the SNES, the Playstation and all the gameboy/DS lines.

Having said that, on the home console front, Nintendo has been in a position where it has not yet completely obtained consumer confidence from those who see themselves as playing games for an older audience. As much as some of us find that ridiculous, it remains true. Moreover, the Cube and the N64 hurt Nintendo's image of being a truly all-ages game platform provider.

For that reason, below has been the 3DS strategy thus far:

Year 1

1) Release a hand-picked number of top top quality casual games (Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs 3D, Mario 3DL, Mario Kart7), and focus efforts on top core content that appeals also to older gamers.

2) OoT3D, SF3D, RE:R, RE:M, SFIV, DOA, Tekken, MH3G, Inzuma, soon MGS3D and Kid Icarus.

3) Once Nintendo has obtained the consumer confidence of an older crowd (and gain a significant lead on their main competition), they will start kicking back in with casual titles. Upcoming are:

Mario 2D, Animal Crossing, Brain Age Demon thing, and others. Mind you these are top quality.

4) At the same time, behind all this, Nintendo is pushing partners in making core content that also appeals to older gamers, so they can internally cater to the casuals with their in-house offerings (which they do quite well) and make $$$$, all the while pleasing the ever so hunger older core crowd.

5) And, in parallel, they continue their e-shop cheap casual pick-up and play effort, but keep it locked in its room so as to avoid retail piles of shovelware.

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Wow, I never realized how ingenius their strategy was until I spelled it out.

Is this from NPD?
I thought Vgchartz agreed that NPD was not so credible anymore after the last one.

that means it sold over 200k in feb

3DS needs a REAL MARIO GAME NOW!! not that 3d crap, or it will die even before Vita ; ) ....srcsm

So, a year has... what... 49 weeks?

Nintendo of America apparently disagrees.

They said "prepares to celebrate" its first birthday, dummy. When you're over a hundred, you'll take a while to organize a party too.

Nintendo wants to give professional analysts and website writers more to write about, in order to expose those groups for who they truly are. Ingenious!

Wow! That is really impressive! Hopefully the 3DS can stay on the line of beating out the DS. That would be great.