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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why's The 3DS Selling So Poorly In North America?

oniyide on 16 April 2013
Soundwave said:
Vinniegambini said:
the_dengle said:

Lol. Wait for NPD.

My thoughts as well. OP claims that the 3DS sell 100-160k a month in NOA; however, according to NPD results released for February, it sold approximately 189k.....

It's not selling poorly - it is moderately successful.


The DS used to clear 450k in a month like Feb/March though in North American alone, meaning today the 3DS barely outpaces that on a global basis.

Iwata was right to say they are unhappy with 3DS sales in the West.

A "moderately successful" followup to the second best selling hardware platform ever I think is probably somewhat of a dissapointment.

Maybe Iwata and some of us were expecting too much. Maybe some of us just got caught up in the hype.



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benji232 on 16 April 2013
Soundwave said:

 

Only about 26,000 this week in North America? And that seems to be the regular baseline for the console in North America (100-160k a month), this isn't an irregular blip it would seem but more of the norm. 

You can't say it "haz no gamez!". It now has Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario 2, Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus Uprising, Zelda: OoT 3D, Brain Training, Nintendogs + cats, Professor Layton, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem, Style Savvy, Skylanders, Monster Hunter 3G, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid 3D, Resident Evil (x2), Super Street Fighter IV, Castlevania, etc.

It's gotten an $80 price cut. It's even gotten a hardware revision. Nintendo has released several color variants.

People look at the 3DS' performance in Japan and gloss over the fact that compartively it's doing quite poorly in North America and Europe (though Europe is a bit better) compared to where the DS was once it got a good library going. Of course it's better than (lol) Vita, but an inanimate carbon rod would probably outsell the Vita in the West at this rate.

Because it's not doing that low. Vgchartz is simply heavily undertracking it like they did in february (200-300k undertracked). This month will be no different. 3ds is CURRENTLY easily averaging 35-40k every week in North America.



Predictions for LT console sales:

PS4: 120M

XB1: 70M

WiiU: 14M

3DS: 60M

Vita: 13M

Herolink7 on 16 April 2013
Soundwave said:
Vinniegambini said:
the_dengle said:

Lol. Wait for NPD.

My thoughts as well. OP claims that the 3DS sell 100-160k a month in NOA; however, according to NPD results released for February, it sold approximately 189k.....

It's not selling poorly - it is moderately successful.


The DS used to clear 450k in a month like Feb/March though in North American alone, meaning today the 3DS barely outpaces that on a global basis.

Iwata was right to say they are unhappy with 3DS sales in the West.

A "moderately successful" followup to the second best selling hardware platform ever I think is probably somewhat of a dissapointment.

If you are expecting anything to sell on par with the DS, you are sure to be disappointed. That said, I would not say that 3DS has been selling moderately as of late. Currently down YoY and has yet to meet any of Nintendo's forecasts.



BuckStud on 16 April 2013
Soundwave said:

 

Only about 26,000 this week in North America? And that seems to be the regular baseline for the console in North America (100-160k a month), this isn't an irregular blip it would seem but more of the norm. 

You can't say it "haz no gamez!". It now has Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario 2, Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus Uprising, Zelda: OoT 3D, Brain Training, Nintendogs + cats, Professor Layton, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem, Style Savvy, Skylanders, Monster Hunter 3G, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid 3D, Resident Evil (x2), Super Street Fighter IV, Castlevania, etc.

It's gotten an $80 price cut. It's even gotten a hardware revision. Nintendo has released several color variants.

People look at the 3DS' performance in Japan and gloss over the fact that compartively it's doing quite poorly in North America and Europe (though Europe is a bit better) compared to where the DS was once it got a good library going. Of course it's better than (lol) Vita, but an inanimate carbon rod would probably outsell the Vita in the West at this rate.


My question is, why do you consider 25,000 a week in the USA as "selling poorly".  I definitely don't consider that poor, but if it is, then what about the Vita selling >5,000 week...what would you consider that?  Besides, the DSi still sells decently here so the combined total of the two was 39,136 in the USA for the week ending 4/06.  The Vita/PSP has a combined total of 5,315.  You have to remember that iPod Touches/Tablets/iPhone etc are very popular here too.  Also, we tend to give more expensive items like the 3DS as gifts in the USA, with Christmas being the prime time for that.  As for Japan, they have always loved their handhelds.



Stop hating and start playing.

Soundwave on 16 April 2013
benji232 said:
Soundwave said:

 

Only about 26,000 this week in North America? And that seems to be the regular baseline for the console in North America (100-160k a month), this isn't an irregular blip it would seem but more of the norm. 

You can't say it "haz no gamez!". It now has Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario 2, Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus Uprising, Zelda: OoT 3D, Brain Training, Nintendogs + cats, Professor Layton, Paper Mario, Mario Tennis, Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem, Style Savvy, Skylanders, Monster Hunter 3G, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid 3D, Resident Evil (x2), Super Street Fighter IV, Castlevania, etc.

It's gotten an $80 price cut. It's even gotten a hardware revision. Nintendo has released several color variants.

People look at the 3DS' performance in Japan and gloss over the fact that compartively it's doing quite poorly in North America and Europe (though Europe is a bit better) compared to where the DS was once it got a good library going. Of course it's better than (lol) Vita, but an inanimate carbon rod would probably outsell the Vita in the West at this rate.

Because it's not doing that low. Vgchartz is simply heavily undertracking it like they did in february (200-300k undertracked). This month will be no different. 3ds is CURRENTLY easily averaging 35-40k every week in North America.


35k-40k a week still isn't great numbers given that Nintendo has thrown just about everything they can at the platform. That's more of a PSP sales pace (earlier in its life span).



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Otakumegane on 16 April 2013

Stop comparing the 3DS to the Vita. (Wait for Global price cut on it for now peeps.)

The point is it isn't selling as well as the DS but the DS was a masterstroke. We ain't going to see something like that again.

Also I'm sure Nintendo realizes that they don't have the Brain Age and Nintendogs audience anymore. They will be satisfied with GBA numbers. Not a gigantic success, but enough to make quite a dime of profit on it.

It all depends on how big Pokemon is the West still is and if their next model revision is a good one. (OG 3DS to XL is lacking compared to GBA to SP or DS to DS lite. They will revise the 3DS again into a better one.)

The true problem is where they go with the next handheld.




http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/profile/92109/nintendopie/ Nintendopie  Was obviously right and I was obviously wrong. I will forever be a lesser being than them. (6/16/13)

Soundwave on 16 April 2013
Otakumegane said:

Stop comparing the 3DS to the Vita. (Wait for Global price cut on it for now peeps.)

The point is it isn't selling as well as the DS but the DS was a masterstroke. We ain't going to see something like that again.

Also I'm sure Nintendo realizes that they don't have the Brain Age and Nintendogs audience anymore. They will be satisfied with GBA numbers. Not a gigantic success, but enough to make quite a dime of profit on it.

It all depends on how big Pokemon is the West still is and if their next model revision is a good one. (OG 3DS to XL is lacking compared to GBA to SP or DS to DS lite. They will revise the 3DS again into a better one.)

The true problem is where they go with the next handheld.

It's not selling GBA numbers. The GBA was a monster in North America, selling faster than the DS even actually.

GBA probably would've finished in the 120 million range had Nintendo not axed it prematurely for the DS.



Mr Puggsly on 16 April 2013

Well the DS still has decent sales in NA. So people are clearly opting for the cheaper option.

As the 3DS library grows and when the holidays roll around you'll a nice boost.

Also, the 3DS has sold more units in NA than Europe and just a couple million less than Japan. Its doing fine thus far.



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Mr Puggsly on 16 April 2013
Herolink7 said:

Except the GBA was a monster in the U.S. It was doing much better than the 3DS is at this point.

It's retty clear now that the market for dedicated handhelds have shrunk, I'm not sure there is anything Nintendo can do about it.

But the 3DS had a bad start due to high price. The GBA and DS launched for $149.

I'm not denying the market may have shrunk due to other mobile devices. However, at this rate the 3DS will still surpass GBA lifetime sales. Maybe not achieve DS sales, but DS is one of the best selling platforms ever.



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Soundwave on 16 April 2013
Mr Puggsly said:
Herolink7 said:

Except the GBA was a monster in the U.S. It was doing much better than the 3DS is at this point.

It's retty clear now that the market for dedicated handhelds have shrunk, I'm not sure there is anything Nintendo can do about it.

But the 3DS had a bad start due to high price. The GBA and DS launched for $149.

I'm not denying the market may have shrunk due to other mobile devices. However, at this rate the 3DS will still surpass GBA lifetime sales. Maybe not achieve DS sales, but DS is one of the best selling platforms ever.


The 3DS had a high price for what? 4 months? It's been at a reasonable $169.99 for a long time now. I agree it will overtake GBA's sales, but more because the GBA really didn't get a proper life cycle.