Following the phenomenal success of Nintendo DS was always going to be a tall order.

The handheld has sold 13m units in the UK alone since its 2004 debut, making it the largest-selling games machine to hit the market.

One year ago this coming Sunday (March 25th), Nintendo’s answer to the insurmountable pressure of succeeding this powerhouse arrived on shelves: the Nintendo 3DS. 

Undeniably, 3DS got off to a shakier start than expected. But 12 months on, Nintendo is keen to remind people that its newest handheld has come a long way.

“Industry expectations around the launch of the 3DS were high,” says Nintendo marketing manager James Honeywell. “3DS was the fastest-selling Nintendo handheld device ever and the sales are comparable to DS sales within a similar timeframe.”

Matthew Castle, associate editor at Future Publishing magazine Nintendo Gamer, suggests the hype for 3DS escalated out of control: “After dominating E3 2010, we expected something bigger from 3DS. What looked like one of the strongest launch line-ups of all time became one of the most disappointing.

“Even the most die-hard Nintendo fan can’t survive on N64 ports for six months. Thankfully, Nintendo got its act together in time for Christmas: finally charging the right price and releasing the games that caused such a stir the year before.”

The software line-up was one disappointment shared by Nintendo fans and the press, but the 3DS’ shortcomings were arguably blown out of proportion. 

MEDIA WOES
Within days of its launch, The Sun and other outlets plastered their pages with talk of headaches induced by the 3D effect. Some games publications were also critical, comparing slow Japanese 3DS sales to the market-leading PSP. 

“I think some went out of their way to find fault – although that didn’t stop them from taking a big chunk of Nintendo’s advertising budget,” observes Jason Brooks, HMV’s senior games buyer. 

Castle adds: “Labelling 3DS a ‘headache machine’ was textbook scaremongering. The real problems Nintendo needs to learn from were the ludicrous pricing and the confusion between DS and 3DS. 3DS followed four iterations of DS – it was all too easy to mistake it for a fifth. No wonder we hear rumblings about regional Nintendo offices wanting to change Wii U’s name.”

Brand confusion was one lesson the platform holder learned and acted upon. By the end of 2011, PR campaigns had been drawn up around the message of ‘This is not DS. This is Nintendo 3DS’.

Nintendo continues to increase its efforts marketing the broader functions of 3DS: downloadable eShop titles, new SpotPass content and videos from Aardman Animation to name a few.

However, critics are quick to remind Nintendo not make the same mistake and lose focus on software. 

“Does anyone need low resolution videos of Eurosport? Nope,” says Castle. “Nintendo wants what it had with DS: a mammoth games library.”

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
A major shot in the arm for the 3DS was Nintendo’s decision to cut the trade price by a third last August. This saw retailers bringing the handheld down from the £230 mark to the much more appealing sub-£150 region. And that turned more than a few heads.

“The price cut was intended to help expand the gaming population and maintain the momentum achieved at launch,” says Honeywell.

Within months, 3DS received another boost in the form of its Christmas line-up, headlined by smash hits Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. 

From its slow launch, the 3DS stormed into 2012 with millions of unit sales under its belt.

More big games arrived this year. Resident Evil: Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3D are already with us, while Nintendo’s next flagship title – Kid Icarus: Uprising – is out today (Friday, March 23rd). Still to come are Luigi’s Mansion 2, Mario Tennis Open, Animal Crossing and a new Layton – not to mention guaranteed system sellers.

Castle adds: “Dr Kawashima turned DS fortunes around and New Super Mario Bros is a proven money-spinner. Both are heading to 3DS in the next financial year.”

Brooks adds: “It would be great to see Nintendo build on the base it has created by getting its value price message more strongly out there and supporting it with some more top titles.”

Source

How well do you think the 3DS has progressed in the last year and what does the future hold for the platform?

a lot of funny Games

Now one year later we almost have all of those launch window games, though we are still missing key titles like Animal Crossing that I wanted almost a year ago =/

Although I am happy with 3DS because I felt the first year on 3DS was one of the best line-ups Nintendo has ever released in a year; Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart, Kid Icarus, Mario Land, Lylat Wars were 5 very strong Nintendo titles; third party is also starting to do well too, but I have a feeling that the games are late, Resident Evil and MGS3 should have come out before Mario Kart and Mario Land - although I am guessing there was some required devpolish - it is unfortunate because I think those games would have been far more successful if they hadn't come out just behind games that were already eclipsing the sky.

Amazing year and the future looks even better. Especially the very near future.
2012 will probably be the best year of 3DS ever if some key games are not "delayed"

3DS crushed its enemies, saw them driven before it, and heard the lamentations of their fans.

I'm happy to know you find it funny. But that's the truth.

People still think 3DS = DS. My parents and my sister still think that blue thing is a DS.

Almost everyone I know thinks that a 3DS is a DS with 3D.

Well, it's a personal taste, but let's see. 2D Mario + Monster Hunter 4 + Animal Crossing + Paper Mario + Layton Vs Ace Attorney + Luigi's Mansion 2 + Kid Icarus + Resident Evil + Bravely Deault + Mario Tennis + MGS3D + Kingdom Hearts + Final Fantasy Theatherhythm + Rhythm Thief + Harvest Moon + Brain Age.

I'll buy those + some 2011 games that'll be released west in 2012 like Professor Layton 5, Tales of the Abyss and Monster Hunter 3G. So yeah, I don't think it'll be surpassed anytime soon. No Vita third party exclusive so far would make on that list. For example, if they changes sides, so it doesn't matter if Vita dies or not.

Conan the Barbarian FTW!

...fans?

Oh, you mean d21lewis!

It would be pretty sad. This year will most likely be runner up for best year, next year will most likely take the pie. I think the 3rd year for the DS is when we saw the best sales it had ever had. True, all those games are coming out but it takes some time for the market to be totally aware of those shiny new games. Mario Kart DS had it's best year in 2008, almost three years after it was released.