Driven by fast-selling software, Nintendo 3DS sells
more in its first nine months than Wii did, according
to Nintendo.
Whether they were on the go or at home, whether they
played in 2D on the TV or in glasses-free 3D in their
hands, gamers celebrated the holidays with Mario and
Zelda. Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 for the
Nintendo 3DS system not only became the fastest-selling
titles in the history of their respective franchises
when they launched, but they are now also the first
Nintendo 3DS titles to sell 1 million units each in the
United States.
On the console side, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward
Sword, which also broke launch records, became the 45th
Wii title to sell more than 1 million units in the
United States.
"One of the strongest software lineups in our history
helped Nintendo have a great holiday season and to
close 2011 with a full head of steam," said Scott
Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president
of Sales & Marketing. "Not only have the new Mario and
Zelda titles already broken records, but with strong
reviews and satisfied customers sharing their positive
experiences, all three are also shaping up to be the
latest long-tail titles from Nintendo. Couple that with
a massive first- and third party lineup in the first
part of the year and the prospects for 2012 are
extremely promising."
Nintendo claims that it sold more than 12 million total
hardware units in the United States in 2011, marking
the fifth year in a row that the company has
accomplished that feat. This includes more than 4.5
million units of Wii, more than 4 million Nintendo 3DS
systems, and more than 3.4 million units of the
Nintendo DS family of systems. This brings the
installed base for Wii and Nintendo DS to 39 million
and more than 51 million, respectively.
With a strong lineup of software on the horizon,
including new installments in the Mario Party, Pokemon
and Kid Icarus franchises, as well as third-party games
such as Resident Evil Revelations from Capcom and METAL
GEAR SOLID 3D Snake Eater from Konami for Nintendo 3DS,
Nintendo expects that momentum to continue into the
first quarter of 2012 and beyond.
In addition to the milestones reached by new software,
two evergreen Nintendo titles celebrated milestones as
2011 drew to a close. Mario Kart Wii passed 11 million
units sold and New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo
DS family crossed 10 million total units sold.