Nintendo notches up record sales for 3DS
But fails to meet own expectations
Nintendo sold 113,000 3DS consoles in the UK during the first two days after the handheld's release. The UK tally accounted for more than a third of total sales in Europe.
The Nintendo 3DS has thus become Nintendo's fastest-selling handheld console, beating the DSi by over 20,000 units during the equivalent period.
Retailers, however, claimed 140,000 of 3DS pre-orders had been taken. Perhaps it was just another tactic to boost stock for fear of shortages.
The headline figures, released by Nintendo itself rather than through the independently verified Chart Track, show that 303,000 units were sold throughout Europe on the opening weekend.
The company had intended to reach 4m sales globally by the end of March, according to financial forecasts made earlier this year. With fewer than 800,000 units sold in Japan so far it appears Nintendo may have failed. It's certainly hard to imagine almost 3m units being sold in the US and rest of the World before April. That's what would have been necessary to make the forecast total. ®
COMMENTS
It's kids brains that are the trouble
Before the age of 4-6, they haven't finished wiring up the links between their eyeball muscles, focal changes, reflexes and signal analysis necessary to construct full depth perception out of two eyes. After they have that sorted, fake 3D like these won't unwire it.
Any problems adults have with it are therefore entirely their own. Lots of folks get motion sickness from playing first-person games on a normal screen, after all - or headaches from trying Magic Eye pics.
On top of which, everyone I know with one of these is an adult - too expensive for kids!
@Carol Orlowski
So you haven't been paying attention to the eye specialists who recommend that children SHOULD use the 3DS? Apparently it won't cause eye damage, but it may reveal pre-existing eye problems so they can be caught and treated early.
You sound like a viral marketer.
No headaches...
...but when the best 3D effect on display is when you press the home button and the game fades back behind the menu screen, it kinda makes you think "What's the point?" My 9 year old son loves it though.
I'd be VERY cautious letting my offspring have one.
young eyes are far more delicate. I wouldn't want my kids eyesight knackered in a few years over a cheapy handheld console.
But then looking at the number of obese kids, Parents clearly don't know how to say no anymore, and would rather settle for the quiet life.
But fails to meet own expectations
It also fails to meet consumer exceptions too.
I expected to have a good 3D effect, not a rubbish one.
I expected to not have to endure headaches and eyestrain after using it for more than 10 minutes...
