Out of the Frying Pan? Nintendo 3DS Sells 4 Million Units in U.S.

From PC World: Welcome back to the land of happy press stories, Nintendo: The company says it's now sold four million 3DS game systems in the U.S., adding that its no-glasses 3D handheld has so far sold "more in its first nine months than the Wii did." Altogether, Nintendo sold 12 million total hardware units — Wii and 3DS sales combined — in the U.S. in 2011.

A couple last minute sales blockbusters probably helped: Super Mario 3D Land (released November 13) and Mario Kart 7 (released December 4) each sold over one million units in the U.S., says Nintendo, becoming "the fastest-selling titles in the history of their respective franchises."

The 3DS, which debuted in Japan in February and the U.S. in March, was slow off the block, due in part to a lackluster software lineup, prompting Nintendo to slash the price of the system in mid-August, dropping it from $250 to $170 — an unprecedented move for a system not six months old at the time. Nintendo also attempted to placate customers who paid $250 for the system by offering them 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.

The 3DS's four million U.S. sales figure brings the system in line with Japanese sales estimates, which also topped four million at December's close. I'm not sure how the gaming demographics work out in either country in terms of who buys what, but it's worth noting the population of Japan is slightly more than one-third of the U.S.'s, making the Japanese sales figure theoretically more impressive.

For Wii-watchers, Nintendo says the Wii sold 4.5 million units, and that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword also broke the one million units sold mark, though that number's actually kind of dullsville given the Wii's install base and Zelda's pedigree. Even if Nintendo included worldwide sales, they'd pale in comparison to numbers like Modern Warfare 3's, a game that topped 6.5 million copies globally during its initial 24 hours on sale. Nintendo adds that Mario Kart Wii reached 11 million units sold, and that New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS had reached 10 million units sold.

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