Super Mario 3D Land release in Japan skyrockets Nintendo 3DS sales
Along with recent news of Nintendo supposedly working on dual tablet support for the Wii U, there's good news for the company's bottom line as the release of Super Mario 3D Land in Japan yields skyrocketed sales not only of the game, but of 3DS units as well.
This doesn't come as much of a surprise to many gamers, since Nintendo's flagship games like Mario and Zelda are always the big sellers for them and ultimately help push console sales.
Media Create, a Japanese company that culminates sales data related to consoles/games and releases reports for purchase on weekly, monthly, and annual bases, has had their latest report hit the Internet.
In it, we find sales figures for the 3DS console and Super Mario 3D Land -- amongst other platforms and games -- from last week, and the numbers bode well for Nintendo, who is predicting its first annual loss in 30 years. Here is a comparison of last week's 3DS sales to the week prior:
3DS sales from 10/31-11/6: 145,271 3DS sales from 10/24-10/30: 65,041
As you can see, 3DS sales almost tripled for the week. A similar pattern can be seen when comparing the sales of Super Mario 3D Land to the sales of the next highest-selling game for the week:
1 - [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 11/03): 343,492 2 - [PS3] Uncharted 3 (Sony, 11/02): 124,989 3 - [PS3] Battlefield 3 (EA, 11/02): 123,379 4 - [PSP] Final Fantasy Type-0 (EA, 10/27): 122,286 (594,540 since release date) 5 - [WII] Kirby Wii (Nintendo, 10/27): 55,779 (192,589 since release date)
The million-dollar question now is if the US will experience a similar boost in 3DS sales when the title is released here on November 13. Personally, I bought a 3DS the day it launched in anticipation of titles that are only just now beginning to make their way to market.
The delay has certainly been an inconvenience to early adopters like me, but even with the rough start to Nintendo's 3DS game releases and the massive price drop of the handheld earlier, I'm a pretty diehard Nintendo fan who hasn't had a completely rough go of it with the titles released up through now and the games Nintendo has provided via the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program.
If you haven't yet, will you purchase a 3DS now that Nintendo has released a Mario title for the system? With titles like Mario Kart 7 coming down the pike prior to year-end -- in combination with the 3DS price drop -- now may finally be the time to go ahead and pull the trigger on a 3DS. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
-Stephen Chapman 
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