I know that it is uncommon for sales to go up YoY once they have already started to decline, especially in the 5th year but it's not completely unheard of. PS2 released in 2000, peaked in 2002 then sales started to slowly decline in 2003/2004. 2005 saw a YoY increase due to continued momentum caused by GTA: San Andreas and the PS2 Slim redesign in holiday 2004. Xbox 360 also had a similar occurence, it released in 2005 then saw yearly sales increase until 2008, sales in 2009 were down slightly then increased once again in 2010 due to the 360 S redesign in June followed by the Kinect in the holidays. So it can happen and one thing to note is that in both these examples, a redesign was a huge factor in increased sales, which by the way 3DS has coming next year with the New 3DS & New 3DS XL. Just for comparison sake, I will include NPD numbers for 3DS this year along with notable releases (games over 250k sold)

Jan-96k

Feb-153k (Bravely Default)

Mar-159k (Yoshi's New Island)

Apr-106k

May-96k (Kirby Triple Deluxe)

June-152k (Tomodachi Collection)

July-108k

Aug-91k

Sep-140k

Oct-138k (Super Smash Bros for 3DS)

Nov-515k (Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire)

Dec-700-800k??? (Estimate)

Total- roughly 2.5 million

The first half of the year had a decent lineup, not great but not horrible, a JRPG, a couple B-tier Nintendo platformers and a surprise hit in Tomodachi, the problem was no real big system sellers in the first half. The summer was really bad, Smash Bros was delayed causing a drought and having zero big sellers release (it had a couple niche titles like Ace Attorney vs Professor Layton & Theatrythm: Curtain Call). The holiday quarter has been pretty decent, Smash Bros and Pokémon are 2 really big sellers along with a few smaller niche support titles like Fantasy Life & Persona Q.

Going into 2015, notable games we know that are releasing in the first half include Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Codename STEAM & Majora's Mask 3D so pretty much on par with 2014 first half releases. The big thing that I believe will improve sales is the New 3DS which I'm 99.99% sure will release in Q1 due to Nintendo wanting to hit their 12 million shipped total for the fiscal year. If it does in fact release in Feb/March then Q1 is pretty much gauranteed to by up YoY. The second quarter could be up as well if it has a prolonged impact on sales along with Majora's Mask releasing. Going into the summer, the New 3DS boost will probably start to level off and it comes down to if Nintendo has any significant titles releasing unlike 2014. I could see games like Xenoblade Chronicles and Youkai Watch releasing in Q3. Xenoblade probably won't be huge but if Youkai Watch has anywhere close to the success it does in Japan then it could really help Q3 sales. The holiday quarter is where I don't really see sales being up. The big holiday title will probably be Pokemon again, I'm guessing an enhancement/sequel to X/Y (Z, X2/Y2, XZ/YZ) alongside some smaller support titles or localizations (Final Fantasy Explorers, a B-tier 1st party title). They can probably keep the decline to a minimum tho by offering some nice New 3DS discounts/bundles for the holidays.

Overall I would give it a 50/50 chance of being up YoY in USA if the things I outlined above happen.

Depends on the SW tbh. I see it being 2mil minimum though...

Could be but we need to see more gamez

I hope so! With New 3DS there's a chance. Nintendo's 3DS NFC title could be a decent system seller.

Well for one, I never said Youkai Watch was a guaranteed hit, but it certainly has potential especially if the show ends up being popular among kids, I also specifically stated that Xenoblade won't be huge.

It would make absolutely no sense not to include New 3DS, honestly that's one of the dumbest things I have ever heard, we might as well exclude DSi/DSi XL sales from DS totals if that's the case. I'm not sure why u believe there will be so much confusion, the name actually eliminates confusion by specifically calling it NEW, u can't make it much more self explanatory than that.

I'm not upset, just stating a fact that it's very dumb not to include New 3DS sales as 3DS sales. Gameboy Color & Nintendo DSi are included in Gameboy & Nintendo DS sales despite doing the exact same thing as New 3DS which is slightly up the specs, add new features and offer select exclusive titles.

Sorry if I offended u but ur statement was dumb so I called u out on it, that's all. It has been discussed on this site a dozen times at least if New 3DS should be included with 3DS, I know u have seen these discussions and many people have pointed out the same thing I just did, if we exclude New 3DS sales then we have to start seperating GB/GBC & DS/DSi sales.

I doubt it, but with New 3DS there is a small chance.

Come on Tbone, give a more detailed post than that, I want some discussion going on

No.

3DS will be flat at best.

And so it should be, one thing people should start taking note of is how much Nintendo systems have the ability to go under the minimum predictions.

"WiiU will sell at minimum 12m by end of 2014" said some guy late 2013 I'm sure.

There is no floor, certainly not 2m.