U.S. Gamers Snatch 400,000 Nintendo 3DS Units in First Week of Sale

Posted 04/19/2011 at 6:34am | by Paul Lilly

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Maybe Joe Gamer and his friends aren't as enthused about 3D gaming as Nintendo hoped they would be. In an interview with USA Today, Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime, revealed that consumers bought just shy of 400,000 Nintendo 3DS units in the first week after the handheld game console launched. Fils-Aime tried to put a positive spin on the sales figures, but compared to Nintendo's other systems, the 3DS isn't having the same kind of impact.

"We are very satisfied with this start and we look forward to the momentum that we will build on Nintendo 3DS with the launch of the E-Shop, the launch of the 3D trailers for Hollywood movies, and the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in mid-June, as well as the launch of Netflix later on in the summer," Fils-Aime told USA Today.

It very well may be that the 3DS needs time to mature before it comes into its own, but in the here and now, the numbers aren't knocking anyone's socks off.  For the sake of comparison, the original DS sold a little over 500,000 units in its first week of sales back in November 2004, but according to Fils-Aime, comparing the two isn't fair.

"It really is apples and oranges. When we launched DS we launched going right into the Thanksgiving week," Fils-Aime explained. "From a pure timing seasonality, you are not going to be able to compare the two launches."

You can read the full interview here.

Image Credit: Nintendo