Despite what you may think, Nintendo aren’t giving up on the 3DS just yet. In fact, Nintendo of America’s Scott Moffitt said in a recent interview with the Washington Post that the handheld console is still enjoying massive levels of success – even rivalling the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in sales figures.
So far in 2015, sales of the family of Nintendo 3DS hardware in America are actually ahead of last year’s pace.
Nintendo 3DS is here to stay. Let me throw out a number that might surprise you. So far, on a global basis, Nintendo 3DS has sold more hardware than PS4 and Xbox One—combined. Most people find this shocking.
However impressive that statement may be, Moffitt doesn’t specify if he’s talking about lifetime or yearly sales. If it’s the former, that’s hardly surprising, as the dual-screen handheld has been out much longer than Microsoft and Sony’s consoles.
Moffitt was also quizzed on the impact that mobile gaming has had on the handheld market, but he had an answer for that, too.
Obviously we don’t deny the impact of smart devices on the gaming market. But it’s a mistake to consider this a zero-sum game. Clearly gaming on smart devices and gaming on Nintendo 3DS can happily coexist, to the benefit of all gamers. The fact is, playing games on two very different hardware platforms means options for two very different kinds of game play. The inclusion of multiple control buttons on Nintendo 3DS allows a much deeper and more sophisticated type of play.
In an ideal world, both platforms certainly could exist, but it’s already clear that mobile gaming’s audience has taken a bite – however big – out of the handheld console market. Nintendo don’t seem too bothered though, and they’ve certainly got some great games lined up for the console in 2016, among them being Final Fantasy Explorers.
Will the Wii U survive the arrival of the Nintendo NX though? We’ll just have to wait and see.
