Shortly after its launch in 2011, Nintendo 3DS sales plummeted due to a lack of engaging software for the device, and perhaps its price as well. As as result, third-party game developers collectively decided to take a “wait and see” approach before committing development resources to Nintendo 3DS.
Following a price-drop and the release of popular software, the 3DS is now at over 15 million units sold worldwide, and is continuing to sell consistently. This, says Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, has restored the confidence of third-party developers, and the result of this will be apparent in the future.
“The specific titles will be released by each software developer, so I will not mention them here,” Iwata said to investors at the company’s recent financial results briefing. “I can say, however, that there will be more and more highly-anticipated titles for the Nintendo 3DS even in the U.S. and Europe where home console game systems lead the market.”
60% of 3DS users have connected to the Internet in both the Japan and the U.S. While they’re still in the first stage, Iwata says that Nintendo hope to expand their digital business even further. One aspect of this will be offering download versions of retail games at some point in the future.
Above: Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Releasing March 29th in Japan, and sometime in 2012 overseas.
Published: Jan 26, 2012 06:57 pm