Ninja'd by trucks hey?

For a few weeks, the PS Vita sales were doing better in North America than in other areas.  I wasn't speaking for a large portion of the community, but I was saying that there are people (though the number may be small) that buy a system soley because they heard it had the best specs.  I know people who did, that's why I said it.

I thought it has sold pretty well in the US for just over a year being out. Does someone have a graph showing the first year of DS vs. first year of 3DS in the US?

Also Monster hunter is the reason why the 3DS has done so well in Japan.

Promotion hasn't been as good as it could or should be...
At least in my opinion...
They seem to have stopped advertising Kid Icarus: Uprising and Mario Tennis Open, but they just released a new advertisement for Mario Kart 7...
I realize MK7 has been a big seller, but still, they have to keep things fresh...
Capcom made no effort whatsoever to promote Revelations, which is nothing short of shameful...
And the only other third-party releases from this year that I've bought so far are both remakes...
Nintendo isn't doing everything it can to show the variety of games available...
Maybe that will change in the future...
I'm pumped for Heroes of Ruin and Kingdom Hearts though...

Handheld systems are naturally more popular in Japan than the west. In order for handhelds to achieve breakthrough sales in America and Europe, they generally have to offer games which have widespread appeal and broaden the market. With the original Gameboy, this was achieved primarily through Pokemon Red/Blue and Tetris. Conversely, with the DS, this explosive growth was achieved through games like Brain Training and Nintendogs.

With the 3DS, Nintendo's strategy seems to be to release traditional series such as Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda to sustain sales. This is fine, except the market isn't being expanded. With the popularity of mobile gaming as well as ongoing economic problems, the 3DS will naturally lose DS owners who will decide not to upgrade. Nintendo could mitigate this by attempting to expand the market with blue ocean games, but they are currently releasing the exact same types of games they've been releasing for decades (those from their core series). Games from traditional, core Nintendo series such as Mario and Zelda will attract long time Nintendo fans and those who enjoyed the most recent iterations, but buyers will be lost through attrition.

This is one of the reasons that the N64 sold less than the SNES, and the Gamecube sold less than the N64. A large part of it was increased competition, but a perhaps even more important aspect of it was that Nintendo wasn't expanding their audience. The N64 released the same types of Mario/Donkey Kong/Zelda games as the SNES, and the Gamecube followed suit with its predecessor. It wasn't until Nintendo released the Wii and brought audience expanding games like Wii Sports/Fit/Play that hardware sales increased significantly. The new expanded audience that these games brought also purchased various traditional Nintendo games, which can be seen in the high sales of games like Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros.

Another factor to consider is that while the DS had gameplay innovations with its double screen and touch controls, the 3DS doesn't have this same advantage. Its main feature (3D visuals) doesn't offer significant changes in gaming or interface control. If one examines the Wii U, it offers a gameplay innovation in the tablet controller, but its library also seems to be primarily made up of traditional Nintendo series. However, its controller offers opportunities for innovation. The 3DS, in many respects, has painted itself into a corner. It doesn't offer much to bring in new gamers.

Also, everybody, read everything I said. "This group may be relatively small in comparison to the whole community of gamers, but it definitely seems more prevalent here." I said that, too. I am using speculation words as well, I'm guessing that this may contribute to the difference in sales. I never said it was the main cause.

Let's look at the past few generations and their sales victors in America:

5th: PS1

6th: PS2

7th: Wii

Now, just out of those 3 examples, none have been the strongest system in their generation. Vita sales certainly aren't strong in the west, so that's not a significant factor affecting 3DS sales. You basically just made a fairly long post which amounted to "derp derp derp."

Because its not American and handhelds are old fashioned now; why buy one when your smartphone does the job just as well?

Seriously, none of you are getting what my post meant.  I am not giving one cause to the difference, I'm saying that it is a collection of reasons, and that there are people who don't buy the system because of A, B, and C.  I even stated that the group of people who did it are likely small in comparison to the gaming community.  Everyone acts like I'm being a retard and stating that the reason sales are worse here is that people only buy for power.  I never said that, and I KNOW that already about the best selling systems are not the most powerful ones.

DS sold to casuals. Nintendogs and Brain Age were some of it's best sellers. NSMB and Mario Kart also sold to that base.

So far 3DS has been focused on trying to get more 'core' players. In Japan that's fine, because they aren't into the violence like the west is and are highly into portable consoles, unlike the west. So Japanese consumers are happier with what 3DS has to offer to the 'core'.

As already mentioned in the west there's a general lack of interest in portables - especially now with tablets/smartphones, and those 'core' that are percieve Vita as superior (if too expensive).

DS sold hugely to girls (50% of it's base) but so far 3DS has done nothing to capture that market except Nintendogs & Cats which is frankly, quite stale as a series now. Once girls and the Brain Age crowd are attracted again, they'll also buy NSMB2/Mario Kart but are less likely to get a 3DS for those games (they have them on DS already).

Question is, has iOS completely stolen that market? Personally, the games that I played on DS (Puzzle Quest, Brain Age, NSMB) could easily be done on iOS/Android for a fraction of the price (minus Mario). Apple has destroyed the value proposition for Nintendo for the casual gamer. I wouldn't concieve of paying $40 for a game like Brain Age/Rythym Heaven/Brain Academy/Wario or a lot of other casual Nintendo titles. Odds are I can find a clone for a fraction of the price for my smartphone. Sure I'll miss Fire Emblem but likely there's a clone for that on iOS too.