Nintendo has sold more than 2.1 million physical and digital 3DS games to American consumers in Q1 2013.
Back in its early days the 3DS had some rough moments. Its launched was marked by hype and high expectations that its early months just weren’t able to live up to. Though its first year would eventually be counted as a success by Nintendo, it was also marked by some harsh reality checks. Since then the 3DS’s momentum has gradually picked up and, if recent software sales are any indicator, the handheld’s dark days may well be behind it.
Nintendo has reported that the 3DS’s first party software sales in the United States, for the first quarter of 2013, are up 52% from the same time period last year. While you can likely give some of the credit to the 3DS’s expanding user base, a strong batch of recent software releases is largely responsible for the boost. Nintendo sold more than 2.1 million games in the first four months of 2013 with titles like LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon providing boosts to sales. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, by itself, has sold more than 530,000 units since its launch.
The 3DS’s successes are probably appreciated by Nintendo, which could probably use some good news in the light of continued setbacks with the Wii U. Like the 3DS, the Wii U launched to a rougher reception than Nintendo had hoped. That said, whereas the 3DS eventually picked up momentum, sales of the Wii U have remained stagnant and have even declined in recent months. Add in deteriorating relationships with third party developers and the Wii U’s position continues to look tenuous even as the 3DS comes into its own.
Source: Joystiq
