I know that if you bowl three strikes in a row, that's called a "turkey," but what's it called when your handheld is the best selling system for five months straight? Apart from a success, ask Nintendo, they might know. The company is celebrating just that feat with its 3DS.
According to a recent press release, "Nintendo enters the critical holiday selling season with strong momentum, as Nintendo 3DS finished as the best-selling video game system in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive month and Wii U enjoyed new momentum following a price cut."
The record sales for the console was no doubt pushed along by the recent release of both Pokémon X and Y. After a worldwide release just this past weekend (a special release party at its World Store in Manhattan to celebrate the game's launch), Nintendo announced that the two games together have sold more than 4 million copies across the globe within two days of their release, according to internal estimates.
"The early response to Pokémon X and Pokémon Y not only reaffirms the ongoing passion of Pokémon fans, but also indicates that an entirely new generation of gamers are eager to experience the franchise for themselves."
Further encouraging sales is the anticipation for new titles set to hit the handheld, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Mario Party: Island Tour.
The 3DS has enjoyed strong sales since first being introduced, though Nintendo still suffered as sales for the Wii U were languishing. Thankfully, sales picked up for the console when Nintendo dropped its price by $50 in September. According to the release, the drop resulted in sales of the Wii U increasing "by more than 200 percent over sales in August, and that is with only 15 days of data being reported at the new price."
The two systems (I'm counting the 2DS as the same thing as the 3DS here) now remain the main focus on Nintendo, as Wii production has since halted. Nintendo confirmed yesterday the news yesterday, and that the Wii was the company's best selling home console with over 100 million sales worldwide.
Provided GameStop's Black Friday deals prove to be true, 3DS sales will no doubt be helped along by a deal one a bundle, but don't count on Nintendo's handheld continuing its record into November. After all, that's when the world goes next-gen and Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 launch worldwide.
