It looks like the Nintendo 3DS is finally getting a little traction in the U.S. with first party software sales up 52 percent in 2013. So releasing more games results in more sales? I'll do my best to remember that.
According to a statement from Nintendo, more than 2.1 million units of first-party 3DS games have sold in the U.S. through the first four months of 2013 alone, or an increase of 52 percent over that same time frame in 2012. It took 30 weeks to reach 2 million units in first party software sales last year, something that has been achieved in just 18 weeks in 2013, according to figures provided by the NPD.
The statement goes on to tout 2013 as the biggest year so far for the handheld that struggled initially with games like Donky Kong Country Returns 3D, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team and games from the Pokemon, Mario Golf and Legend of Zelda franchises on the horizon.
You'll have to excuse me if I'm no longer as upbeat about Nintendo's tactics of falling back on the same old games to push sales. But we as consumers keep buying them, so I guess I can't blame Nintendo for continuing to churn out the umpteenth iteration of the exact same games.
As for this year's good fortune, Nintendo credits high-selling games like Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for the 3DS' success.
The press release goes on to state that this should be a solid year for the Wii U, too, with big titles coming down the pipeline, including games to be show off at E3 from the Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Super Smash Bros. franchises. So, yeah, more of the same, I guess.
