June 30th, 2012

The 3DS was the best-selling system in Japan during the first half of 2012

139 Comments

You could probably guess as much based on the weekly sales charts that I tend to post on this blog, but the 3DS was the best-selling system in Japan during the first half of 2012. Here are the complete rankings:

  • Nintendo 3DS: 2,219,548 (6,355,287)
  • PlayStation 3: 695,465 (8,112,613)
  • PlayStation Portable: 500,333 (18,737,441)
  • PlayStation Vita: 353,657 (756,451)
  • Nintendo Wii: 265,578 (12,433,321)
  • Xbox 360: 33,809 (1,554,547)
  • Nintendo DS: 20,239 (32,855,741)

(The figures in the brackets are the total sales since the launch of the systems.)

In terms of software sales, Mario Kart 7, Monster Hunter 3G, and Dragon Quest Monsters Terry’s Wonderland 3D managed to take three of the top five spots in the charts for the same time period.

(via andriasang.com)

  • the psvita is better

    dont worry vita, i am sure you’ll eventually have better sales :D

    • Speed

      Hooray for competition!

    • Ness

      The Shita? Please I hope Apple shits in the face of nintendo and vita until they are no more!

    • Schultz38

      I sure hope so! I hate seeing a system crash and burn (not implying that the Vita has).

    • Speed

      @Ness Don’t you mean Nintendo and Sony? Or did you assume the Vita was a company?

    • Ness

      i meant to say 3ds

    • Kirby 64

      i kinda do feel bad for the sales of the Vita. :/

    • the psvita is better

      silly ness, apple products cant sh*t, only people can do that :P

    • Ness

      quit being literal you ass you know wat im refering too

    • Speed

      @Ness Just out of curiosity, what’s your favorite Apple product?

    • Ness

      Macbook pro actually

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc

      Apple fanboy, has gone too much over Apple

    • AceOfBlades247

      @ Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      How is your company? xD
      (Refering to his name)

    • critical

      Once this is out, Vita will be doomed:

      Monster Hunter 4 3DS exclusive game. Look at the screenshot of this game:

      http://www.4gamer.net/games/140/G014036/20120630007/

    • AceOfBlades247

      @critical

      Holy… Those graphics look amazing!

    • ErinDwight

      @Psvita, keep up the good trolling. It’s very funny. xD
      @Ness, please stop insulting your mother company, better say father company…
      @Kirby 64, feel the same way, I don’t have it but I don’t want it to fail. :/

    • http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/16a07c1e06c4010a42f31cc4d1a0702d.png ABEzilla116

      @Ness A macbook pro!? What a waste of money. You could have bought a decent gaming PC with what you spent on that over priced paper weight.

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      I have a macbook pro for moviemaking though my family is not encouraging me anymore :( I hate how Apple products arn’t putting anything worth while in their products, there just selling because it’s Apple, SO WHAT IT’S A FRICKIN SCREEN!!!

  • Enzo

    PlayStation 3: 695,465 (8,112,613)

    This is the number I find odd. The lifetime sales of the PS3 is only 8.1m in Japan?

    • Schultz38

      I understood the chart to mean the parenthesized number was the lifetime sales. Maybe I was wrong?

    • Kevin

      I don’t see it too odd. Obviously Japanese gamers are on the go ( they are in Japan ). So you’ll see the portable machines have high sales. Also, the Wii, but that’s the friendly system ;)

    • Schultz38

      ^^Nvm.

      “(The figures in the brackets are the total sales since the launch of the systems.)”

  • Kevin

    We keep seeing a lot about Japan. David, you should compare the sales and rankings of the 3DS throughout each region and not only Japan. That way we get a rounded idea on how it’s doing. We all know Japan loves it by now :D

    • Enzo

      Global year-to-date as recorded by vgchartz is
      Wii: 2.2m
      360: 3.2m
      PS3: 4.3m
      3DS: 4.5m
      PSV: 1.8m

    • KING Z

      VGChartz Is Not A Good Site To Trust

    • Enzo

      You can trust vgchartz, however the numbers aren’t updated evenly all the time. These numbers may be a bit old.

    • Csaw

      @Enzo I highly doubt those are correct numbers. 3ds has sold about 4.5 million units in japan alone this year it’s most likely over a million in the U.S. Territory.

      @Kevin the reason we don’t hear worldwide sales of 3ds is because japan is the only territory that actually regularly posts numbers. We only know the numbers of the U.S. once a month (and that’s if the company decides to tell us.) don’t know how it works in the other regions though.

    • Enzo

      Csaw, what are you talking about? In Japan it was 2,219,548 as it is shown up there. On the weekly sales, Europe and North America were selling 3DS’ at half the rate Japan was, so the number makes sense. It just may not be updated since a month or so ago.

    • NK

      microsoft wishes they had the best global sales (they even lied about it at e3) pathetic

  • KING Z

    Im Glad 3DS Is Doing Well, But It Worries Me. What If Because Of The 3DS’s Successful Sales Nintendo Stops Making Good Games For If? :/

    • Speed

      I’m sure their bright enough to know that they’re getting good sales BECAUSE they made good games.

    • Ness

      It never has made good games for the 3ds you shithead 3ds sucks balls

    • Enzo

      Actually, that most likely wont happen. Even if Nintendo blows PSV out of the market, Nintendo wouldn’t let it get to their heads. They also have 3rd party developers who wont be affected by this.

    • KING Z

      @Ness, Whats Up With You And Saying “Shithead”?

    • Ness

      Its fun word to say KING Z so fuck off

    • Shithead

      I dont like you Ness

    • Kirby 64

      To be honest,Nintendo Wii had a horrible game library,but it still sold 90 million.

    • Enzo

      The Wii’s library isn’t really that bad, but to many people it seems so. I don’t think there was a correlation between the Wii’s sales and its quality of games at all, though.

    • KING Z

      @Ness, You Shithead

    • Ness

      Well put KING Z

    • the psvita is better

      oh ness, why are you so silly, dont you realize its impossible to have a sh*thead. if a person had a sh*t head, he would spend his life writing hateful comments in the internet and insulting people in blogs :D

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc

      Your are sure pissed at everything Ness, yet your not biased at all

    • http://www.csfgpapercraft.com/wp Seb

      Ness you’re an idiot. Period.

    • Rachu

      I don’t get it when people say the 3DS sucks, what are you comparing it to? Its a vast improvement on older DS systems (except for poor battery life) especially in terms of improving the graphics capabilities. Its created its own niche and it fills that very nicely.

  • Department of Agriculture

    It appears as though the 3DS will catch up to and surpass the PS3 very quickly. Very nice considering the amount of time the PS3′s been release. Awesome indeed.

  • hamaad619

    YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!! the 3ds is great
    i hope the vita gets more sales so 3ds has some competition

    • Enigma

      Lol Disney.

  • KING Z

    @Ness just leave i am the annoying troll of the blog soo LEAVE u SHITHEAD BITCH FUCKER i will rip your PUSSY apart

    • Ness

      Wow i thought we established this I was the fake KING Z and your just Fuck up

    • KING Z

      SHUTUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE A SHITHEAD AND THAT IS YOUR WORD SO SUCK IT BITCH YOUR NOT A REAL TROLL GO BACK TO TROLL SCHOOL YOU DROPOUT FUCKER BITCH I AM THE BEST TROLL AND WAS THE BEST TROLL AT TROLLHIGH

    • the psvita is better

      i dont know dude, when it comes to trolling i think ness does a better job than you do and he also made his own username, you stole it from a cool guy in this blog and thats low

    • Ness

      Fuck you faker your an idiot and crazy

    • Ness

      Well fucking said psvita is better

    • KING Z

      What Is This?!??

    • http://www.youtube.com/user/MadCrainProductions MadCrain

      I still can’t believe it’s not butter.

    • http://www.csfgpapercraft.com/wp Seb

      Ness I don’t think anybody likes you :)

    • AceOfBlades247

      Wow, people impersonating KING Z. Who else is next? Enigma? Big E? Enzo? crtical? Ness is already being impersonating. Same with King Z. the psp vista is better Has already been impersonated. Why do people do this for? Trolling has no benefits in life…. Unless you want to be the biggest douchebag like the “Fake” KING Z.

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      KING Z (The one with the gravatar) is the official KING Z when a gravatar is updated, the past comments before it changes to the new one, I know he’s real because when is saw his comment cursing at Nintendo Power, THE GRAVATAR WAS THERE

  • Ross Clark

    Sony for Console Gaming
    Nintendo for Handheld Gaming
    Microsoft for PC Gaming
    END OF STORY!!!!

    • AceOfBlades247

      Nuff’ said.

    • ErinDwight

      ‘Nough said bro.

    • ErinDwight

      True that bro.

    • The Only Pokemon Champ

      I wouldnt be so sure about that pro
      we dont know how the Wii U might turn out

  • Enigma

    Good for Japan. How ’bout a worldwide chart?

    • TheRolesWePlay

      I’m actually surprised the boost from Persona 4 G was so short lived. Too bad I guess.

  • Vii

    Vita did better last week -_-

  • Mickey

    all club Nintendo coin status due tommorow. :D

    • AceOfBlades247

      But, I haven’t reached platinum yet… -_-

  • Sadsa

    Geez how many people live in Japan

  • Silly Ness

    according to psvita is better this wat my name should be ^

    • the psvita is better

      that is very true

    • Ness

      thx

    • Silly KING Z

      How do you like this KING Z?- Ness

    • KING Z (Ness is a shithead)

      I DONT LIKE IT THANKS FOR ASKING U BITCH FUCKER LOOK UNDER UR GAY BED U FUCK FACE GO FUKIN EAT SUM FUKIN SHIT U FUKIN SHITHEAD

    • KING Z (Ness is a shithead)

      @the psvita is better
      OFCOURSE I STOLE MY NAME FROM A COOL GUY ON THE BLOG THAT IS WHAT TROLLS DO U DUMBASS AND Ness U ARE FRIENDS WITH PSVITA IS BETTER U ARE THE WORST TROLL EEVER

    • KING Z

      What The Fuck -_-

    • Ness

      Ur right im dumbass piece of shit but u can’t troll harder then this u prick fucking rot in hole u damn troll

  • Ness
    • su

      LMAO. He went berserk. O.o

    • Enigma

      Dude c’mon, there are CHILDREN here.

    • AceOfBlades247

      WTF… I rather not click on the link. Obviously this is the “Fake” Ness

    • Rachu

      @Enigma well said. Someone needs to do something about all the swearing. Kids shouldn’t have to see that. Grow up and have a bit of respect (aimed at the swearers not you Enigma :) ).

    • Tails the Foxhound

      Yo, David, can we get a ban over here? A few post removals too?

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      I guess the offical Ness is dead :(

  • Ness

    So Ness why arn’t you trying to stop me?

  • freeksallweek

    Ness you are a cunt of the highest order, P.S Apple sucks giant whale turds, just thought you should know.

  • Vii

    Is it now time to banned ness

  • Mo

    Ness and KING Z are going to get banned, just saying.

    • KING Z

      Why Would I Get Banned? Im A Victim Here! Stilling Peoples Names…

    • AceOfBlades247

      @KING Z

      David can just IP ban the “Fake” KING Z and Ness and the “Fake” Ness.

    • Ness

      Actually im not the real Ness but i am the same person who stole KING Z’s name you can call me faker with no life but at least i stopped those shitheads from trolling so much. Being KING Z was easy all you had to do was capitalize every single word, and Ness i mean come on he cusses all the time and he hates nintendo. So my job is done next time theres trolls just call me…

    • Ness

      by the way im not the one who put the link up that was the real Ness

    • http://jlowcapo@gmail.com Lord Voldemort

      Im impersonated Ness and KING Z im Ness^ the fake Ness

    • http://www.csfgpapercraft.com/wp Seb

      Oh that gravatar points everything out :/

  • Tails the Foxhound

    Interesting things to note:
    -The 3DS is only off of the PS3′s life-to-date total by ~2 million units (1,757,326 exactly), this is BEFORE Monster Hunter 4 or a 2D Mario hit market.
    -PSP continues to outsell it’s predecessor, by 146,676 units.
    -Vita’s life-to-date sales are only slightly higher than the PS3′s year-to-date sales (a difference of only 60,986), this is AFTER the two sales spikes (ToI:R and P:4 Golden).
    -Pokémon B&W2, despite being launched the day before the stats came in, beats out the year-to-date of all other games for the year at 1,618,321 units.
    -P:B&W2′s year-to-date is only marginally smaller than Mario Kart 7′s life-to-date, by only 129,343 units.

    • AceOfBlades247

      Yay for Pokémon! :D

    • Tails the Foxhound

      S’up guy, haven’t seen you around in a while.

    • AceOfBlades247

      Lol. I didn’t notice you with your new Gravatar Picture. xD

    • Ant

      Imagine if Pokemon was released on the same day world wide

  • Ty

    Ugh… The comments section on this blog has gotten way out of hand. It really needs to be more moderated.

    • Ispheria

      I think its funny how the most rational and sane person on this blog is “the psvita is better” lol

    • Enigma

      “the most rational and sane person on this blog”

      *Ahem*

      What up? ;)

    • Ty

      “the most rational and sane person on this blog is ‘the psvita is better’”

      Ouch. That really hurt. Of course, my name is rather generic.

    • Ty

      Or you weren’t serious, and you were trying to point out the ‘irony’ that somebody you think would be the most likely to be a troll- (based solely off his name), actually happens to be one of the more decent commenters on this blog, who doesn’t have much of a bias (if at all), and actually uses judgement before he makes a comment.

      I apologize for the run-on sentence.

    • AceOfBlades247

      I would have to say the most sane person on this blog is David of course. But if I had to pick a commentator for that I would choose between “the psvita is better” and “Tails the Foxhound”

    • http://www.csfgpapercraft.com/wp Seb

      “the psvita is better” is indeed very decent :)

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      And ME :D

  • Ness

    I’m in love! *cries*

    • AceOfBlades247

      “Fake” Ness…

    • Ness

      Fuck you prick

    • Ness

      Why swear? Its pathetic real ness.

    • http://www.csfgpapercraft.com/wp Ness

      C’mon, give me a real civilised offense, with no swearing or rude words.

    • Ness

      Thats impossible to give you a civilised offense with out it not being in rude words. What does it matter wat i say i could say screw you! or fuck you. which one do you prefer you incompetent jerk

    • Ness

      Not possible, huh? Tells a lot about you.
      Either one does not apply to me. Would you seriously be willing to rape me? That’s incompetent.

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      The Ness without the gravatar is the official Ness, I looked at his comment about the impressions of the Dsi XL which was told in French, NO GRAVATAR THERE BUDDY

    • Ness

      No I’m fake :P See my logic in those?

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      Gee, the real Ness saying he’s fake… seems legit

    • Ness

      What the Fuck is going on? Now people are stealing my name?

  • http://www.Wiiublog.com Lord Infamous

    So the 3DS already has almost just as much 3DS owners as PS3 owners.

    KICK ASS! (the movie, LOL)

    next stop Wii, and second stop PSP AMD third & final stop DS, LOL.

    Now that a great system.

    I can see that the PSP has turn a lot of people off from ever buying a PS handheld ever again, including in Japan.

    I saw this coming, about the PS Vita, I knew all of this would happen……and the PSP 3 will be even worker off…..if they actually ever make one.

  • Zack

    HAH. Nothing else reached even 1 million sales yet the 3DS reached 2 million.

    • AceOfBlades247

      That’s how much it’s dominating the competition.

  • 2ndComing

    glad too see 3ds is doing very well :D
    And the incredible games not only in looks but awesome gameplay really shows what Nintendo is here to offer :3
    Hm… I wonder whats the biggest game catridge above 4 GB the 3ds can handle when it comes to making and putting games on them? o3o me guess is 6-8 if 6 exists :p
    Btw im a SEGA head :p go SEGA

    • Zack

      6GB cards, like SD cards, are rare… They always double since memory cards are built in sections. It would be silly to build a memory card with one section, then a half section. So that’s why they always upgrade in doubles. Anyways, I’m sure Nintendo could produce any size card up to 32GB or so but those would cost way more so they keep it low.

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      Yah, same whith bits, 4 bit (Yes it exists),8 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit, 64 bit, 128 bit

    • 2ndComing

      Wow, could You imagine what the game would look like…. -imagines Resident Evil Revelations 2- :D omg…

    • 2ndComing

      btw thank you for your replies :D, im new to commenting here. :3
      So god bless and happy gaming
      yes a kwing reference!

    • Zack

      You do know game cartridge size would have nothing to do with graphics? The processing power of a system is what determines how much data can be run at once, like all the vertices and edges that make up the detail of a 3D environment, but the memory card size would be like the total amount of data there is, not being run. So larger cards would mostly just add content or length to a game, it doesn’t determine the amount of data that can be processed at once. Perhaps you already know this, but you said you’re new here so that’s not how I took it.

    • 2ndComing

      i can dream!! D:<

    • 2ndComing

      meh i figured but hey you never know whats possible after all it IS Nintendo and its Developers, but hey your right :1 but I CAN DREAM OK!? D’:< lol

    • Zack

      Yes you can dream, but saying storage size is related to graphics power is like saying an engine is related to the fuel it burns. You can have all the gas you want (storage), but it wont affect how powerful your engine is. It just makes that engine run longer, but the engine itself still runs at the same amount of power.

  • Elspeth

    I think when 3DS XL come out would be even better selling! can’t wait for it! I am getting exciting.

    • NK

      actually it wont sell nearly as well

  • http://jlowcapo@gmail.com Lord Voldemort

    lksjdflkj

  • andrew

    like twited you like a million times

    @Nintendo3DSBlog i realyyy want the 3ds xl and i love the bigger screen but what will i do with my data on my 3ds? :s

  • Jodial

    Fucking fanboys, no wonder 3DS is high, because they dropped the price by half last august and thats when i got my 3DS, Vita pwns 3DS in general, theres better titles, but still the games aren’t all that

    • Zack

      Say what you want.
      The numbers are clear.
      People are buying it.
      So I’m pretty sure Nintendo fans have upper hand here no matter what.
      The 3DS is selling 6x better than the PSVita which instantly makes your argument invalid.
      Good say, Sir.
      I’m going to enjoy my right to laugh in your face very well.

    • Zack

      HAH. Hahahahahahaha. Hah, hah, hah.

  • Tk

    lol @ vita

  • the ps vita sucks so badly

    ports tsk tsk tsk… ports again tsk tsk tsk -facepalm- i like to see the vita fail while i eat nutella