United States 3DS sales hit 4.5M in first 12 months

If only it had a second analog. If only they would support the add-on analog. How many would they sell then?

Price cut saved it. It's even got me considering it over vita with games like RE revelations. More adult games please!

i guess the price cut was a good idea - but holidays and exklusives like mario helped a lot too. Kid Icarus ist just 1 week ago - lets see how many want it and may waited just for this - Guess Nintendo will bring a lot of great games in the future. All the exclusives for wii/3ds from the last years were just amazing and as it looks the Wiiu will have a great 3rd party support - e great genres to much casual. MS and Sony should go one with their lameass shooters. MS raped the whole shooter genre with halo and gears of war. Casual stupid crappy stuff, nothing more.

Awesome news! So glad that the 3DS made a nice turn around. I'm really looking forward to the new games in 2012 and beyond!

That Kid Ikarus download has me open. Fond memories of ye ol' NES and SNES. I'm highly considering getting a 3DS.

Just bought one. I am 25 and thought handhelds are for kids (and they kind of are) but i love it regardless lol

I bought the 3ds the second day after launch day, its a awesome little console never regret buying it. Don't know where they get the idea of handhelds dying.

Just got mine a couple of days ago to make those Metro rides somewhat eventful. Gotta say, it's a lifesaver.

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

I think that handhelds are eventually doomed because smart phones have all their stupid games and that kind of stuff which I'm not happy about this but thats enough of that.Ok now talk about the 3DS I think the 3ds should have skype even if you could only do it with other 3DS's and they need good 3rd party games one of the games I want to be released in the U.S. is Monster hunter 3G.

I noticed that sales picked up because I take my 3ds to work and almost always get 3-5 street pass hits when I used to get nothing

With all those good games coming to the 3DS it should be even better in the future for nintendo. Kid Icarus, Paper mario, LM2, Heroes of ruins, Fire Emblem and there are more.

I think that this fantastic for Nintendo, but they really need to keep this momentum. I think that they can with various games like Kid Icarus and Mario Tennis, but they need to get a lot of 3rd Party support.

@ElevenHandMan : And remakes are bad how? Yes,we get the first remake ever of THE HIGHEST critically acclaimed game of all time.Call the cops! Sound the alarms! And of course I would remember your posts..just like I would remember food poisoning or a root canal.

@moviequest14 Hey now, looks like I have a fan. ;D You remembered a post I made 6 months ago!? I'm honored! Funny though, in your post you mentioned 10 games that are good for the 3DS, and that's being pretty liberal since a couple are just remakes. You actually made my post sound better. Thanks! Then again, wouldn't expect less from my number 1 fan!

I have a DsI Xl and I just can't push myself to buy this because of the small screen. As soon as they come out with an xl or a pokemon game specifically for the 3ds then I'm sticking with my XL untill then.

ive been waiting a month to learn how well resident evil: revelations did sales wise because if that game does well then i can expect more console experience games on my 3ds

I love this thing. I even surpassed my DS collection! (Pokemon black, Platinum and Pearl) I have 4 3DS games Mario kart 7, Zelda, Star fox 64, and mgs3d i never thought i would love this system but on black friday for the zelda bundle for only $140? with a free zelda game? take that Vita you dont even get any free games out of the box!

So does this mean that Gamespot will stop posting annoying articles about how handhelds are dead?

Good for Nintendo. Here's to a year of higher sales numbers than the last!

gamers are still apleanty and spending on great products... hope same happens to vita.

hah! good one Nintendo! you don't disappoint first few months of me playing mario kart 7 wasn't that good but now its different many people to play with online, specially on RE:revelations coop mode. and so many street passes compared to before when i was lucky to even get one a week! now i get like 5 a week and almost completed my puzzle pieces!!! Good job Good job!

It's a-me,the un-a-stoppable Mario! I'm very happy with my 3DS,I bought it day one,and have not been disappointed. Take that you smartphones and tabs!

Flying high!

@Flint247 I see what you are saying about the second analog stick but even nintendo has been telling developers to include an option for the second analog stick. This tells me that a permanent second stick is in the works for a the 3DS. Besides we all know that nintendo likes to upgrade their portable game systems. It just doesn't seem to make sense for nintendo to continue to make the circle pad pro as the only option to getting a second analog stick. To not make a 3DS with a second analog stick because of fear that early adopters are going to get upset might be reasonable in the short-term. However, if and when the ps vita drops its price and starts to push out quality games, the 3ds may start to look less attractive to developers and consumers. Adding a permanent second analog stick to the 3DS seems to me like a good long-term investment.

Bought mine a week after launch and never regretted it,I have easily spent 600+ hours on this thing already in 2011,and that's only when I have 4 games back then(SSFIV,RE:Mercs,SM3DL,MK7).So yeah,it's coz of the 3DS that I lost my life.goddangit.

To be fair, the 3DS' success over the DS probably has a lot to do with DS' previous success. People mostly got a 3DS because they loved their DS. All who got one weren't disappointed (including me). I'm not disappointed about the price drop a few months after I got one, because of the great games they gave as an apology, plus the more 3DS owners there are, the greater the 3DS gets as communication is a big part of the system. The 3DS has a great future ahead of it, despite what the handheld critics say.

Good news. I'll admit I was a little worried about the future of this thing, but it did pick up pretty well. I'd like to see more of the "mature" titles, but Resident Evil and Snake Eater are a good start.

Even if there was a second model with a 2nd analog pad, I do not see it being a big necessity. Most of the games available now do not even need a 2nd analog pad, so if a future model with 2 analog pads came out, it would not be put into use that much except the games that use a 2nd analog pad. Plus, they cannot really make games to support 2 analog pads only because many people bought the first model, so the controls would be the same mostly. Besides, the circle pad pro had two additional shoulder buttons; if they try making that onto the new model, that would make it really bulky. I believe the system will do fine with just one analog circle pad.

I just can't see myself getting a 3ds until nintendo permanently attaches a right analog stick. I think that will push a lot more gamers into buying the system.

I seem to recall reading an article 4 months ago about how the sales of the 3DS were pitiful, and that it was doomed to fail. People still saying that today are being brainless haters now. Nintendo had a bad start, yes. Those things happen. But now with most of the system upgrades completed, a massive price cut, games that are most certainly better than the ones at launch, and an e-shop library that isn't to shabby, the 3DS is now soaring.

3ds already has a fairly impressive library with (some soon to be released) Mario Kart 7,Super Mario 3dLand,Resident Evil Revelations,Metal Gear Solid,Rayman Origins,Ocarina of Time,Tekken,Street Fighter,Luigi's Mansion 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3d,and a heavy hitter list of downloadable titles (many-to-most of which score as high or higher than some blockbuster retail releases).More units will mean more interest from 3rd party developers meaning more 3rd party titles meaning even more units sold...quite a good circle if you ask me!

@ElevenHandMan : 3ds sales are impressive...but not near as impressive as your commitment to trolling them....what,aren't you just copy&pasting from your exact same comments 6 months ago?

"3DS is failing" they said...

All those anaylists predicting handheld gaming's doom can go to hell. I love my 3DS, picked one up the week after launch, and haven't put it down since.

Hopefully all those editorials about how handheld gaming is dying will stop now.

I'm calling it now. Kid Icarus: Uprising is going to be one of the best-sellers, if not the best-seller, for the 3DS.

Nintendo will still Dominate while haters wish death on it.

I cant believe how many haters still wanna keep bashing Nintendo, they got bombed allot and now they got their sh*t together since Mario Galaxy 2. They got 3rd Parties back on their side, and once again innovating in the gaming world. I bought a 3DS at launch and i know it bombed at launch cause the games we were excited for werent there, but now the tide has turned, games are coming and the 3DS is selling because of the awesome games. And fanboys really need to just cut the crap, 3DS and PSvita are both awesome handhelds in their own right and are even awesomer if you own both. Nintendo is getting better and better, how about instead of being little kids and bashing them, grow the F*CK up and show them support to keep getting better.

Awesome system, absolutely love it. I have an iPhone as well, but it hasn't impacted my gaming habits.

I wonder where all the analysts are who said that handheld gaming was dead...

I like the comments from the haters because their laughable.

It was expected wasn't it? It's just like a new version of an Iphone. It always sells great. People saw this as an updated DS, and people always want the newest and greatest! Perhaps this is better marketing than advertising it as a new console? Maybe.....

At this rate, I don't think the 3DS will sell well in the future. Only Nintendo fans and gamers in my opinion bought the 3DS. / Software sales are 9 million. That is only 2 games per system. How is that possible when there is Starfox/OofTime/Mario Kart/3D land and Resident Evil and Mercenaries and Street Fighter. I think this is terrible. The system seems like it will stall sometime. / Where are games like Nintendogs and Cats. It just seems like gamers buying the system. I am not surprised.

My own personal anecdotal evidence indicates strong recent sales because I've had 4 times as many StreetPass meetings in the last 2 months than I had all last year.

3DS is a huge success. I have spent over 500 hours on mine so far. (I had it since March 27th, 2011) Thanks, Nintendo, for this system.

I love mine, played it almost every night for the past 3 months.

@mike4487 'First the Vita sales than this as if they are competing with each other' You realise they are competitors right? They compete in a very competitive business as gaming has award shows, regular sales tracking, analysts, systems launching around each other and competing on tech. This isn't like laptops, release any laptop any time and see if it sells, there is only 3 major console manufacturers and they all compete for sales directly against each other. It's a very competitive industry and the fanbase is quite swept up in that competitiveness along with being quite supportive of there favourite brands too. It's no wonder the news actually reflects this, it's not a coincidence they go to the same tech shows (like CES, E3 and Tokyo Game Show) to directly compete on stage with there new content, it's also not a coincidence they tend to launch around the same time as each other for the most part, they are competing and trying to beat there competitors. You don't have to take it negatively though, you can just look at it as facts and ignore people who choose to focus on sales if you're not fond of it but for me I simply find it informative and interesting. I like consoles and handhelds and considering there's been much doom talk about the handheld industry with analysts predicting it would die off due to smartphones I'm currently very interested in how they got it so wrong judging by these sales.

3Ds ftw baby you go you hot pink god you