You can now let out that sigh you’ve been holding in since the Nintendo 3DS launched in late February because after 13 strenuous weeks, the 3D handheld has finally managed to move 1 million units – in Japan. Although the 3DS was not the runaway success Nintendo had hoped it would be, a strong lineup shown off at E3 including the likes of Mario Kart 3DS, Super mario 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising and the very special announcement that Super Smash Bros. is going to be developed for both the 3DS and Wii U should have brought up the geek-o-meter.
To put the 3DS’ 13 weeks to hit 1 million units sold into perspective, the original DS took four weeks, DS Lite and DSi took eight weeks and the DSi LL (XL in the U.S.) took 25 weeks to reach the same goal. So while the 3DS is off to an extremely slow start compared to the original DS, it’s still selling faster than the most recent DSi XL.
Anyone who’s been keeping up knows that this is not shocking news. Here’s a full list of reasons on the Japanese aren’t snapping up the 3DS off store shelves like little hyper maniacs.
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