Nintendo hardware sales in the Americas are worse than you'd expect
3DS shifts less than half of Game Boy, GBC.
Video game analyst at Niko Partners Daniel Ahmad has shone a light on some pretty damning statistics about how Nintendo's current slate of hardware is selling in the Americas.
Looking at its home console market, the figures, which Nintendo has made publicly available, go as follows:
- 34.00m - NES
- 23.35m - SNES
- 20.63m - N64
- 12.93m - GCN
- 48.64m - Wii
- 6.29m - Wii U
The Wii U is known for not selling well, possibly due to its confusing name, but what's more surprising is the handheld figures, which are as follows:
- 44.06m -GB/C
- 41.64m -GBA/SP
- 59.93m -NDS Family
- 20.11m -3DS Family
Given the Nintendo DS' success and the healthy slate of titles on the 3DS, combined with its budget-priced spin-off the 2DS, one might think its sales would be significantly higher after more than five years on the market.
"It started off well. But sales dropped considerably in the last few years," Ahmad said of the 3DS on Twitter. "The demand for dedicated portables isn't there."
"Portable dedicated consoles have been replaced by mobile gaming at a core and casual level."
Indeed Pokémon Go saw a big influx of 3DS sales in the US, where the half-decade-old hardware topped the charts in July, but it still can't hold a candle to Nintendo's handhelds of yesteryear when the portable market wasn't so cutthroat.
Perhaps the alleged console/handheld hybrid Nintendo NX will fare better?