Nintendo 3DS sets new Japan sales record

News 3DS

Sells 5m units faster than any console.

The Nintendo 3DS has set another sales record in Japan - further evidence, if it was needed, that it has recovered from its launch troubles.

Over the weekend it crossed the five million sales mark in 52 weeks - a record for Japanese hardware sales.

The previous record holder was the Nintendo DS, which shifted five million in 56 weeks. In third place is the Game Boy Advance, which hit the milestone on week 58.

As Andriasang points out, the Nintendo 3DS sales figure relates to sell-through, that is, units sold from shops to customers.

Nintendo released a nifty new chart, below, to show just how well 3DS has done in Japan post price-cut.

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About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

Comments (38) Latest comment 3 months ago

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DrStrangelove #1 3 months ago

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History repeats itself, eh Sony?
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Darksouls13 #2 3 months ago

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cool beans!
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Baleoce #3 3 months ago

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Now that is some recovery. Never write these guys off.
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Shadders #4 3 months ago

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Nintendo are doomed! They should go software only and release their games on iPhone!
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brigadier #5 3 months ago

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I don't care what anyone says, I love Nintendo.
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NotSoSlim #6 3 months ago

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Don't understand why Sony is mentioned? Both products can be successful in there own right as there is a market for both
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dsmx #7 3 months ago

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halving the price and releasing some decent games who'd of guessed that would make a system sell?
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simsini #8 3 months ago

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How is this possible? The games cost more than 69p and it has physical buttons, this can't be something gamers want?!?!
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TipTop #9 3 months ago

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Have to say this just proves how idiotic the debates have been over the Vita / 3DS vs. iphone / Android have been. Just proves both can exist and grow in today's market.
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kinky_mong #10 3 months ago

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Always bet on Ninty.

Well deserved sales too.
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Casserole #11 3 months ago

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And still analysts keep their jobs
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Casserole #12 3 months ago

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To add, I still remember one arrogant sod who was pretty sure of himself when he was saying that Nintendo would have to branch out into making games for the mobile platforms if they were to survive.
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Pwnsweet #13 3 months ago

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I can't wait to see the sale spike when the 3DS lite is released
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toa_boa #14 3 months ago

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Impressive - just shows that right price and (finally) stellar game lineup will do the trick!
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Sid-Nice #15 3 months ago

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In December, a poll of 1,000 Japanese gamers resulted in 65% would buy a Vita, 23% would buy a PS3, 7% a Wii U and 5% a 3DS. Things aren't looking good for Nintendo.
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ronecvan_is_here #16 3 months ago

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I've been somewhat skeptical of the 3Ds' performance, this already proves the argument that 'The handheld market doesn't exist' wrong, and gives ninty their well deserved win. Hopefully the PSV follows in it's footsteps by releasing titles that apppeal to both sides of the world.
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ronecvan_is_here #17 3 months ago

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@Sid-Nice wow those gamers must have all been PS fanboys like you then.
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Sid-Nice #18 3 months ago

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@ronecvan_is_here I was being ironic and I'm Nintendo through and through.
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Der_tolle_Emil #19 3 months ago

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I really like this graphic. It shows that any console could claim "fastest selling at point x" if they just pick the right moment. Admittedly the 3ds took off and is selling very well now but if put into perspective it really had a catastrophic start.
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ZeroAX #20 3 months ago

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@toa_boa Why is this post being negged? :S
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Springchicken #21 3 months ago

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That graph doesn't match your statistics about the GBA and DS. According to the graph, after 52 weeks the DS had sold less than 4 million, and the GBA almost 5 million.

Unless the DS sold over a million units in 53rd, 54th, 55th and 56th weeks combined, and the GBA's sales suddenly halted?

Still, well done Ninty. I finally caved and bought a 3DS on the day Resi: Revelations came out and have to say that it's a really loveable little console. However, its DS emulation isn't that great, so I'm glad I still have my DSi XL for my mountain of old DS games.
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roz123 #22 3 months ago

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@Der_tolle_Emil
True, a lot of it comes down to what time of year they are released as the bulk of sales come around christmas time. Still its good going considering how many had written it off and it bodes well for the future of Japanese games on the system.
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BigDannyH #23 3 months ago

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I hope there's room for the 3DS and the Vita (got my pre-order in) but Japan definitely seems to have voted.

I guess we should give the Vita 52 weeks and (hopefully) an increase in the game library before writing it off. I'm not sure it's got anything like a Mario to really get the console off the shelves but there's tons of potential. Sony are relying on 3rd party developers to help them out though.
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kobashi #24 3 months ago

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@Sid-Nice

yet the PSV is struggling to sell more then 20k per week and will probably go under 10k this week.

That poll must have ben full of sony fanboys as the PSV isnt shifting numbers in Japan while the 3DS sits top of the tree.
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dagas #25 3 months ago

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That's cool, but I'm waiting for a new version of it. I'm not buying the first generation again like I did with the DS and then everyone else had the Lite and I had the grey brick.
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beelzebozo #26 3 months ago

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Sometimes I imagine walking around Tokyo and getting all those Streetpass hits...
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natureboy #27 3 months ago

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Impressive good news for gaming
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natureboy #28 3 months ago

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@Shadders why?
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Serebii #29 3 months ago

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@Sid-Nice And yet in January, hundreds of thousands bought a 3DS and only 80,000 bought a Vita
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Quak #30 3 months ago

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Funny how they didn't release this chart a few months ago.
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Serebii #31 3 months ago

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@Quak Indeed, considering it's to signify the breaking of 5,000,000 units sold in Japan and that only happened last week?
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KanePaws #32 3 months ago

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In a slightly related news story, Miyamoto recently purchased 3.6 million 3DS units for his personal collection.
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FLOODY777 #33 3 months ago

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3DS price drop + Monster Hunter = sales! Would the rest be history for Sony, if they secured a 'Souls' game exclusive (non PS3/Xbox360) for the Vita?...
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ilmaestro #34 3 months ago

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But clearly, standalone handheld consoles are done, and phones rule the world. As a plea to the world's media, please stop spouting this shit.
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Obli #35 3 months ago

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I'm going to make a prediction. In two months time, Japan's weekly PSV sales will be higher than they currently are.

Edited by Obli at 20/02/12 @ 21:19
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getittoomebaby #36 3 months ago

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Amazing what happens when you release good games and put the product at a decent price.
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Fido128 #37 3 months ago

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"3DS and PS Vita will, quite simply, never scale the heights of the previous generation of handhelds. [...] One thing is certain � dedicated handheld gaming devices are now in rapid decline, and barring an extraordinary technological advance, they�re not going to come back." -- Rob Fahey, 1st August 2011
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matsumoto #38 3 months ago

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@Springchicken the weeks 53 - 56 were indeed the strongest (December) where DS has sold over one million units.
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