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NPD: Nintendo Hardware Sales Increase By 100 Percent, Nintendo 3DS Surpasses 10 Million

Two games that are among the best reviewed of 2013 launched on Nov. 22: Super Mario 3D World for Wii U and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for Nintendo 3DS. The strong response to these games helped sales of Nintendo hardware systems in November increase by 100 percent over the month prior. This includes nearly 770,000 units of the Nintendo 3DS family, which drove the lifetime total past 10 million to nearly 10.5 million units. Other sales milestones achieved for the month include:

Nintendo 3DS Family of Systems

  • Pokémon X and Pokémon Y each sold more than 225,000 combined digital and physical units in their second month on the market. This brought the combined life-to-date total to more than 2.35 million units. On Dec. 4, Nintendo revealed special edition Pokémon X and Pokémon Y Nintendo 2DS bundles that should keep the games’ momentum going through the holidays and into 2014.
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the sixth Nintendo 3DS title to have a Metacritic score of 90 or higher, sold more than 280,000 combined digital and physical units. That figure jumps to more than 405,000 total units when including the special edition Zelda-themed Nintendo 3DS XL system, which comes with a code to download the game.
  • A handful of first-party Nintendo 3DS titles saw triple-digit sales percentage increases in November over sales in October. This includes standout 2013 titles such as Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (seventh month on market; 140 percent increase) and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (ninth month; 105 percent increase), and legacy titles such as Paper Mario: Sticker Star (13th month; 280 percent increase), Mario Kart 7 (23rd month; 130 percent increase) and Super Mario 3D Land (24th month; 235 percent increase).

Wii U

  • Sales of Wii U hardware increased by more than 340 percent over sales in October.
  • Super Mario 3D World for Wii U, currently the highest-rated next-generation title with a Metacritic score of 94, sold more than 215,000 combined digital and physical units in its first eight days on the market.

“This holiday season, Nintendo is offering an unparalleled combination of value and variety,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “In looking at these results, two things are indisputable: Our hardware is gaining momentum at the exact right time and our software catalog is stronger than ever.”

 

143 thoughts on “NPD: Nintendo Hardware Sales Increase By 100 Percent, Nintendo 3DS Surpasses 10 Million”

  1. Wish Nintendo would stop juggling their numbers and finally say “yeah, we’re not selling as much as expected…”

    Why don’t they say they’re selling more than the 3DS like in the beginning? Oh right, they aren’t…

    1. Why Sony and Microsoft dosnt say they aren’t selling Xbox 360 and ps3 like they where doing before? Because the new consoles have the consumers attention this holiday and once it pass it will increase.

      1. Wii U still sold over 240K units in November despite $99 X360’s and $150 PS3 that bombarded the market!!! I was honestly worried for the Wii U as those prices seem like out of this world!!! Next NPD the Wii U should sell at or nearly 500K units for sure!!!

        1. Haters where saying wiiu sales will drop once those consoles where out. They most be surprised that people aren’t has dumb to buy a console just for ram.

          1. From selling 55K units in October to more than 240K units in December is an incredible jump!!! I expect it to double in sales for Dec and slowly drop to ~80-90K a month until DK:TF and MK8 releases.

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              1. ” Stunning realism. Advanced AI that adapts to the way you play. And a new generation of multiplayer that is both smarter and faster”

                I’m pretty sure its not the hardware but the developers who decides if they can make the most of the hardware rather its for PS4, XONE or WIIU..

          2. ALL console sales will drop after the holiday. It’s been that way for 40 years. The question is how far will they drop for the Wii U.

    2. Why you bitching for the 3ds is selling like hot cakes it doesn’t need to surpass the de it’s selling well on it’s own

          1. @ritsukachan, they can’t because they aren’t smart enough, I mean they think the KIDS are where the moneys at LOL and not us adults or young adults that actually work and can buy there shit but go ahead Nintendo keep ignoring your hardcore fans that have the money to buy your shit and that want NON kiddy games like star fox, F-zero, a new HD over 60 hour gameplay metroid etc

            1. They really messed up. Ever since they unveiled and after that release the Wii u, I thought it would be a big seller. Unfortunately, they failed in trying to bring back the “hardcore” audience. Now it’s the casuals again and it isn’t helping them just like the Wii.

      1. Oh no! Guess we will be seeing all those game cancelations soon! No more “X!” Cancel Mario Kart! Pull the plug on Zelda! You heard it right here folks! Ritzsuka said WiiU is done! Strip naked and wear ye a wooden board with Ritz’ words on it!

    3. While I agree with you in general, no company in the world would release a press release that says that. I’m not talking about video games either, just any company.

      Get an exec on the phone or have an investors meeting/conference call and that’s where they might be a little more forthcoming.

    4. They did…hence why they lowered their sales predictions. Also Reggie has talked about low sales and the drought before.

        1. 3DS has been breaking records in Japan.

          GBA tracked faster than the DS remember? 3DS is tracking over GBA number. the 3DS will be fine sales trends with these consoles arent static.

          Its at 40 million worldwide already. DS was not at 51 million at this current state in time. DS also had an extra holiday when it was released than the 3DS.

          So you gotta be looking at the picture. 3DS has much software momentum

          1. Also I’d like to remind you. DS had 3 times the software the 3DS did. But the 3DS has much higher quality software. DS also had some big ol break out hits like Brain Age and NIntendogs and the hardware subsequently decreased the next year. 3DS seem to be doing the reverse but it does have less in the sheer numbers of software sales from those juggernaut franchises.

            See this is post smartphone world. So 3DS is doing really well.

              1. Who the fuck cares? There weren’t tablets and smartphones back then, I just wanna play good games, this is for the video games, not how much each one is fucking selling!

              2. Time will tell.I doubt it will reach the 100 million mark, but 75 Million in its lifetime is my guess for the 3DS.

      1. Trolling or otherwise, you’ve summarised my issue. 340% of a very small number is still small. Not as small, but still small. Whatever the case, I have sensed a bit of a mood change around the Wii U this month. I think the fact that its competitors have disappointed with their launch software line-up has made a few people look back at the Wii U.

    1. It means it sold >240K units in November as opposed to 55K units sold for October!!! That’s nearly a 200K unit increase, could be better but it could have been a lot worse!!! Also Mario only had 8 days to affect the console so there could be a real boost this December. I have been seeing a lot of parents buying Wii U’s on BestBuys and Targets in Northern Cal. My friend who is a manager at Gamestop also said that they are selling nearly twice as much Wii U’s in Dec as opposed to Nov.

    2. Assuming they’re referring to global sales, approximately 1,100,000 Wii U’s were sold in November (it was around 250,000 units in October).

      1. Looks like they were actually referring to USA figures. In that case, it would be in the range of 350,000-400,000 Wii U’s sold in the US in November

        1. LOL…NO I WISH…IT WAS over 240K though a decent number…I said decent not great. I promise though the Wii U is gonna sell 400-500K in Dec

    3. NPD covers roughly 60-65% of the U.S. retailers. It notably does not cover Toys R Us (since Oct 2007), Wal-Mart, and Sam’s Club retailers, but it does Amazon since Nov 2007.[10] Although, NPD does not track Wal-Mart, they do estimate Wal-Mart and other retailers’ sales using various algorithms and estimations.

  2. Finally they put something positive on here! Go Wii U! And 3DS! This is one of Nintendo’s finest generations yet. I’ll admit it started out poorly, I hardly played my 3DS for the 1st year and the Wii U, for some reason, didn’t sell too well. But it’s an awesome generation!

    1. I looked at my year-by-year playtime on the 3DS and it tells a story.

      2011: 200 hours
      2012: 150 hours
      2013: 400 hours (and still counting, obviously)

      It should be noted that my most-played games have changed from DS mainly in 2011 to 3DS mainly in 2013. 2013 was definitely a great year for 3DS.

        1. Sadly I don’t have 400 hours to be putting into single games lol. Hell, I have less time now than I did in 2011, but I game more because 3DS.

      1. In 2011 i got over 100 hours on Ocarina 3D alone. That’s end gaming both normal and masterQuest all skulltulas, fishing and more….

        i’ve been playing my 3DS an awful lot since it launched, it still feels like new to this very day.

      1. both N64 and GameCube era, were critical acclaim than sales, so, its pretty much the same, maybe the Wii U doesn’t sell 100 millions but it will be house for great games, just like the N64, and the Gamecube, so yeah, maybe not the best generation, but one of its finest

          1. You don’t even know that, stop playing like if you knew it all,, can you see the future? No. It’s been only one year since the Wii U will be out, funny how everyone hates the Wii when it won last console, and I bet Wii U won win it but everyone will love it because it will have better games just like the GameCube. Seriously, people on the internet just live to complain online about everything, Nintendo wins, they hate the console, they don’t win, they love the console but hate the sales. It’s like people in gaming sites can’t be satisfied at all!

  3. cewl glad to hear. Nice to see Nintendo is doing well, I believe this effect happened when 3d land launched for the 3ds so its nice to see a very nice jump for Nintendo

  4. Doesn’t look too bad all things considering ~55K sold last month plus >340% puts those numbers at ~243K units. Very far from the disaster that Nintendo haters predicted (ahem Patcher). Nintendo still has a lot of work for them but seeing how the Wii U seems to be selling better in December; I predict that Nintendo will double those sales for Dec 2013 NPD. I’m calling it right now Wii U will be around 400K-500K consoles sold for Dec 2013 NPD!!! Anyone care to deny this?

        1. I’m just glad that he low balled that number again!!! It continues to make him look like an idiot…or the very least a troll!!

      1. Haters still hating saying that Nintendo Gamecube sold better in it’s first month than Wii U. They don’t take into account that the former system did not have the software drought the Wii U experienced. When all is said and done I believe Wii U will still sell over 33mil units lifetime. I also think that December 2013 NPD will bring the Wii U closer to 500K more units sold; making it still somewhat competitive and relevant to the marketplace.

      2. Is not bad not to like something but attacking just because someone else enjoys it is kiddy has hell and those haters claims to be adults gamers lol.

    1. The funny part is that it is competing with the so called next gen system and people said that wiiu sells would get worst not better. Now the scuse they are giving is because of the holidays.

      1. We will see how those “next-gen” systems do this Feb-April 2014 when MK8 and DK:TF releases and they don’t have any significant software to sell.

  5. Pingback: November 2013 NPD: Wii U Sales Increase by 340%, 3DS Surpasses 10 Million Units | PLAYERESSENCE

  6. Once again glad this is really cool but… Nintendo is no where near out of the water. You are slowly understanding and you are learning, so takes these lessons as wounds and keep those wounds full of salt for the next console launch. Nintendo needs to learn from their mistakes and they have to keep the mistakes fresh in their mind.

    I wish Nintendo luck and all but we have to wait hos 2014 will treat the Wii U.

      1. thanks, appreciate it man

        I’m gonna try and post more professionally so that its more enjoyable to read, im sure emoticons in comments gets old ;)

        1. That’s what I try to do even though it tends to rile people up around here because I pull no punches. I’ve been a gamer longer than most of the people on this board have been alive. I’ve owned every Nintendo home console as well as others from other companies. To see Nintendo in the state that it is in is painful. My generation helped build Nintendo as a video game company.

          I can fully understand what Adam Sessler (who normally do not agree with) meant when he said Nintendo is like a child that you nurtured from birth all the way to college and then after graduation it goes into the porn industry. At first I was like “I know things are tough right now that was little harsh,” but now I complete understand what he was saying and agree. Unfortunately it seems like Nintendo pays more attention to he people that placate them rather than people like us. I will give them credit for really stepping up their game in-terms of marketing the Wii U. I’m seeing Wii U commercials everywhere, more Wii U kiosks are in circulation, and more demos are available to play in those kiosks. Hopefully it says like this and if what Reggie says can be trusted (that there will be not software droughts in 2014) then maybe the Wii U can get into a nice constant rhythm of selling around 250,000 to 400,000 per month. That’s not gangbusters but it is a nice solid mark to keep the Wii U in the game.

          1. yea that is the case, but it will be hard to tell as so much is going on now with the ps4 and xbone but they don’t have any must have titles at the moment and 2014 seems to continue that trade but idk, that could change with a simple game announcement. Wait there are some like TitanFall and stuff but other than a few, its seems like a drought is imminent

            I really hope they went with the 3ds effect on this one, by that, when the 3ds started to bomb they had their developers shift ALL sht to the 3ds to get that library up and that worked out a little too well.

              1. And the original wii too. But my point is has the wiiu same support to put it in the same sales numbers has this cystic it is realy hard for with just Nintendo support.

                1. Not necessarily. Nintendo consoles sell pretty consistently when that have major 1st-party titles available that have high replay value such as games like Smash Bros and Mario Kart.

                  I do agree that 3rd party support needs to pick up, but I don’t expect it to come from major publishers. The majority of the Wii U’s 3rd party support is going to come from independent companies.

  7. Why is it that NPD calls itself a “global market research” team yet it only concentrates on numbers from the US alone and acts as though those numbers are the TOTAL numbers? The 3DS has sold 40 million units worldwide and the Wii U has sold 4.5 million.

    I still think the Wii U is in big trouble and Iwata and Fils-Aime need to be publicly fired, but I’ll defend Nintendo anytime when I see obvious fraud.

    1. NPD is a global market research company. I have taken many surveys from them. They don’t just do hardware and software for video games. They do clothing, cars, other electronics, and just about any thing in the market.

  8. Pingback: Nintenderos.com – Wii U, Wii y Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo incrementa sus ventas en un 100% durante Noviembre en los EE.UU

  9. So again, another solid proof that Michael Patcher is an asshole and can’t predict shit about the gaming industry.

  10. Pingback: » Nintendo incrementa sus ventas en un 100% durante Noviembre en los EE.UUnd-games.com

  11. Analist don’t take into account the fact that strategies and new ways of marketing are being introduced right now miiverse on 3ds is a strike of genius on Nintendo part. You enter the wiiu community from the 3ds and you instantly want to be able to play their games and share experiances. They need to do more communities like the smash one in wish we fallow the game has it is being develope and Nintendo will have to open more wiiu factories.

  12. Pingback: Wii U Sells About 230,000 Units In November? | My Nintendo News

  13. Keep up the great work Nintendo. I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in advertising for the Wii U. Slowly but surely the console is starting to creep into the public’s consciousness. Meanwhile, the 3DS continues to do extremely well. I have faith in Nintendo and I’m glad to be on their side. We are the underdogs, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ll show the critics and detractors. We have a fire inside.

    1. Exactly…

      Even in my Sonyan/Sbot infected zone, I’ve started seeing several commercials about SM3DW, Skylanders and some other Wii U game…

      1. I’m doing well although very busy with university…

        I have an oral exam and 2 big exams coming in the next month…

        Otherwise I’m thinking of buying a Wii U after it’s all done if time allows it…

        How about you?…

  14. Pingback: Tutti i traguardi di Nintendo negli USA nell’ultimo mese! | NintendOn

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  16. I’m really impressed with your writing skills and also
    with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
    Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays.

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