Nintendo 3DS One Year Anniversary: From Chump To Champ

Happy Anniversary!

Greetings gamers! When the Nintendo 3DS first came out I was totally stoked. Sure, I already owned the DSi XL (not to mention a DS or two), but 3D? Are you serious! Does it get any better than this? I pre-ordered my 3DS from Amazon and got a sweet package deal on a handful of games as a bonus. In the end, I spent over $300 for the handheld system and games. Granted, the screen size was smaller than my DSi XL, but the 3D graphics completely blew me away and I became a Nintendo fanboy all over again.

As the months passed, I was surprised to learn that the 3DS wasn’t selling as well as Nintendo had hoped. If the sales figures weren’t depressing enough, some critics even took issue with the revolutionary 3D effects, and basically wrote off the system as an epic fail. When Nintendo slashed the price of the 3DS I honestly felt cheated. I shelled out $250 for the game system alone, and here was Nintendo dropping the price to $169.99. What the heck!

It turns out Nintendo knew what they were doing. By lowering the price point, more gamers jumped on the bandwagon and snatched up the 3DS. As it stands, the 3DS has exceeded the first year sales of the original DS, and even more amazingly accomplished this feat in only eight months time. According to Nintendo, over 2.37 million units were sold in that time period. Take that, 3DS haters! To appease those like me who bought the system at full price only scant months prior, Nintendo gave 10 Super Nintendo and 10 Game Boy games as a bonus (not too shabby if you ask me).

So where do things stand as we fast approach March 27, the one year anniversary of the Nintendo 3DS? Sales are still strong and the system is enjoying an ever widening fan base. The 3DS library is growing and some righteous games have been released within the last few months (Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 for example) with more on the way (Kid Icarus Uprising anyone?). With that said, the 3DS still has its detractors, and the system may in some ways be the most controversial in Nintendo’s storied history (though it’d take a heck of a lot to dethrone Virtual Boy). Some gamers complain that their eyes ache from the the 3D screen, that there aren’t enough games to warrant a switch from the DSi, etc. Some critics argue that handheld game systems as a whole are doomed to extinction because of the iPad, iPhone, and Android phones (ahem, these critics may want to amend their opinions after looking at the recent wild demand for the PS Vita). Gamers will always have differing opinions and expectations, but recent sales figures prove that the 3DS has achieved solid success and fanboys like me can breathe a major sigh of relief and can concentrate on getting their game on in glorious 3 dimensions.