A total of 4 million Nintendo 3DS consoles are among the 12 million hardware units sold by the Japanese company throughout the U.S. in 2011. And it’s not just the hardware that dominated Nintendo’s sales figures last year, as its very own 3DS titles like Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 managed to become the fastest-selling games in the history of their respective franchises.
Both these offerings are being said to have sold 1 million units each in the country. The same number was also achieved by the much-appreciated The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword which supposedly broke launch records and turned out to be the forty fifth Wii game to trade more than 1 million units in the U.S. Altogether, the entire Nintendo hardware sales reached the 12 million mark, making 2011 the fifth year on the trot that the company has pulled off this feat.
“One of the strongest software lineups in our history helped Nintendo have a great holiday season and to close 2011 with a full head of steam. Not only have the new Mario and Zelda titles already broken records, but with strong reviews and satisfied customers sharing their positive experiences, all three are also shaping up to be the latest long-tail titles from Nintendo. Couple that with a massive first- and third party lineup in the first part of the year and the prospects for 2012 are extremely promising,” revealed, Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing.
On the other hand, the Nintendo DS family managed to reach a 3.4 million mark in unit sales, while the Wii alone traded 4.5 million units. And this apparently takes the installed base for the Wii and the DS to 39 million and over 51 million respectively. This thrust in sales is expected by the company be carried forward in Q1 of 2012 as many big titles are lined up for release, including Resident Evil Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, as well as new installments to franchises like Mario Party, Pokemon and Kid Icarus.
The Nintendo 3DS handheld which managed to sell 4 million units in 2011, is now available for purchase in three colors – Aqua Blue, Cosmo Black and Flame Red, at a price of 175.95 USD (approx. Rs. 9,379).