Everything terrible, even the 3DS in its 2nd year is down 12-18% this year. It seems the market as a whole has less people buying due to the end of the generation. I wonder if when the market does recover if all sales will go up significantly, even vita.

Great 3DS numbers, terrible Vita numbers. Pretty similar song and dance as normal.

One can't envy the guys responsible for the handhelds in Japan though. They have a situation that, simply put, can't be worked through without some serious issues. Sony can't just kill the PSP, because they still have developers that toss games out for it and the gaming public seems to really like it still. Not to mention the BC for PSP by the Vita isn't exactly the same as playing it on the PSP itself. At the same time, the PSP is no doubt taking a sizeable bite out of the potential Vita buyer market, who are taking advantage of the PSP's sizeable list of games and the cheaper price.

Definitely not enviable.

Well 3DS is up in Japan. Everywhere else though.... :(

But honestly, the 3ds had Mario Kart and Super Mario 3D Land in 2011 during Christmas season. We got Paper Mario.... If Animal Crossing would have been released in US and Europe like it did in Japan then 3DS might have had a slight increase. I think 2013 is going to be it's killer year: Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest VII, Monster Hunter, Luigi's Mansion and much more. I'm more scared for Wii U's line-up.

I pumped up Animal Crossing right around its release in Japan and it looks like the Japanese are delivering.

The 3DS is down as well YoY in Japan.

Platform Weekly (change) Total (week before Christmas Japan 2011)
3DS 497,223 (+34%) 4,112,037
PSP 99,440 (+55%) 18,542,736
Wii 89,513 (+48%) 12,180,272
PS3 74,792 (+17%) 7,596,395
PSV 74,104 (-77%) 396,592
DS 14,489 (+60%) 32,907,765
X360 4,075 (+28%) 1,555,715

I just think that all consoles will be doing subpar until the market is revitalized by something. Once the market is good then everything else will sell better. I mean the DS seemed to get people to think about handhelds more then ever and the PSP also did well. But with a struggling vita and a dieing generation of home consoles, the 3DS is dragged down a little with them. Just less people thinking about games.

Not bad vita numbers..

The 3DS has been down YoY pretty much since the Holidays started, but it's still up YTD globally.

Compared to last year's week yes but 3DS sales have been better this year than last year in Japan :) Thanks in big part to the 3DS XL which has almost sold 2 million o_o there... almost as much as twice the Vita, by next week it should beat it lol ....

Look at this kid! I'm shocked that anyone would actually listen to what a corporation says about these things. No company has officially said they pay for exclusives or exclusive content. It just all happens or its some type of partnership. To say that Nintendo doesn't spend their money on getting 3rd parties to develop games, you're crazy.

It's not even a matter of whether or not they would do it. The fact is that a company like Nintendo can't possibly outbid a monstrously large company like Microsoft. It's just not real.

The evidence is plain to see. How did Nintendo get Viewtiful Joe? They didn't throw money at Capcom. They threw Zelda at Capcom -- and the result was Four Swords and The Minish Cap. How did Nintendo get Sonic in Smash Bros? They let Sega use Mario in Sonic & Mario at the Olympic Games.

How do you think Microsoft gets timed exclusive DLC content for CoD? What's stopping Sony and Nintendo from getting it just as early? The money. Sony can't compete with Microsoft's money, and Nintendo can't compete with either company's money. It would be pointless for them to try to "buy" exclusives with cold hard cash, because Sony and Microsoft could outbid them at every turn.

What about all of the great indie content the Wii U has been getting on the eShop? Surely Nintendo is paying those developers cash money to make their games... nope, as it turns out, Nintendo has just made a very indie developer-friendly online network.

Oh, I know, Nintendo threw money at Platinum to get Bayonetta 2 as an exclusive, right? Well, yes and no. Nintendo is paying for the game's development, so they get publishing credits; it's not some shady backroom deal meant to keep the game off Sony and Microsoft's consoles, but a completely transparent move to provide funding no one else was willing to provide to a smaller studio. It's the difference between bribing the publisher and being the publisher.