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7th Gen Vs. 8th Gen Aligned Launch - Handhelds, January 2012 Update

by William D'Angelo, posted on 07 February 2012 / 7,849 Views

Welcome to the first ‘6th Gen Vs. 7th Gen Aligned Launch – Handhelds’ article. This will be a monthly feature and it will compare the sixth generation of handhelds (DS, PSP) to their successors in the seventh generation of handhelds (3DS, Vita). In this first one, it will only take a look at the DS versus 3DS aligned launch, weekly sales and total sales. The Vita will be added once it is available Worldwide. Also once the Wii U launches an article focusing on the home consoles will also be done.

DS Vs. 3DS

DS vs 3DS Aligned Launch Monthly Sales

Looking at the weekly sales with the launches aligned, the DS lead for four of the first six months. The DS did launch in November during the holiday period which explains its initial lead and with the 3DS launching in February / March it explains the huge lead it has in month 11. The two handhelds holiday periods are exactly three months apart. The DS will lead for the next two to three months.

Looking at the most recent month the 3DS sold 1,337,905 compared to 645,738 for the DS. The 3DS has a lead of 692,167 in month 12. Looking at the 3DS’s first December compared to the DS’s second December, the 3DS lead by 1,176,335.

DS vs 3DS Aligned Launch Total Sales

Looking at the total sales the DS held its lead for its first eight months on sales, but as the 3DS entered its first holiday season it quickly took the lead. It has doubled DS sales in its first year on the market, 15.85 million compared to 7.93 million. Though as the DS entered its second holiday sales picked up and it looks like the gap will shrink and the battle between the two with aligned launches will start heating. The 3DS is currently four months ahead of the DS during the same amount of time on the market.


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23 Comments

Bman54
Bman54 (on 07 February 2012)

Holy crap, the 3DS is already at 16 million sold? That's quite impressive!

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MontanaHatchet
MontanaHatchet (on 07 February 2012)

Please don't troll the news section.

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Nintendogamer
Nintendogamer (on 07 February 2012)

Mari kart 7 is awesome and I find the graphics to be sexy, and the new stages has cool elements.

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IIIIITHE1IIIII
IIIIITHE1IIIII (on 08 February 2012)

Yes, Mario Kart 7 is indeed sweet, but Nintendo even admitted that they hired Retro Studios to get it out before christmas.

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AstroMaSSi
AstroMaSSi (on 07 February 2012)

I can expect a second holyday season very strong, if Nintendo continue to produce huge games for 3DS. Waiting for Pokegold...

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thekitchensink
thekitchensink (on 07 February 2012)

The 3DS has doubled the first-year sales of the best-selling handheld system ever. CLEARLY it is a failure.

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Kangi
Kangi (on 07 February 2012)

"CLEARLY its sales are only due to the pricecut! Just you wait, interest will wane!"

*five years later, it's the best-selling system ever* "JUST YOU WAIT!"

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dsage01
dsage01 (on 07 February 2012)

Great for 3DS lets hope it can keep up the legs the DS had,

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trunkswd
trunkswd (on 07 February 2012)

Title fixed! Can't believe I made that mistake. Thanks for pointing it out so quickly.

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ZaP~
ZaP~ (on 07 February 2012)

It is possible to add the total software sales? that'd be interesting in the comparisson

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Salnax
Salnax (on 07 February 2012)

I wonder if the upcoming 2nd tier releases (Resident Evil, Metal Gear, Kid Icarus, etc.) will give the 3DS a notable boost.

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RolStoppable
RolStoppable (on 07 February 2012)

They won't. Well, perhaps RE:R will, depending on what you consider "notable". But for the rest you better not get your hopes up.

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morenoingrato
morenoingrato (on 07 February 2012)

Technically, 3DS is 8th gen.

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spurgeonryan
spurgeonryan (on 07 February 2012)

With the games coming and and that are supposed to come out, I do not see the DS Catching back up with the 3DS any time soon.

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Panama
Panama (on 08 February 2012)

Been dying for this article. Can't wait to see the PSP vs Vita aligned sales in the upcoming months.

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ZaP~
ZaP~ (on 07 February 2012)

It is possible to add the total software sales? that'd be interesting in the comparisson

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ethomaz
ethomaz (on 07 February 2012)

I miss the PSVita and PSP in the graphs... nice article.

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sethnintendo
sethnintendo (on 08 February 2012)

Well having the PSVita in the graph right now with just the Japan launch wouldn't make it look too good would it?

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oni-link
oni-link (on 08 February 2012)

awesome 3ds sales

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Zim
Zim (on 07 February 2012)

I'm sure a lot of people are like me and waiting on the inevitable 3DS lite. I would expect a MASSIVE explosion of sales when it finally gets released.

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BasilZero
BasilZero (on 07 February 2012)

Really impressive! Hopefully this will inspire more third party support!

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Nintendogamer
Nintendogamer (on 07 February 2012)

Ahh I see you've changed it now :)

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trunkswd
trunkswd (on 07 February 2012)

Thanks for pointing it out =)

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Nintendogamer
Nintendogamer (on 07 February 2012)

DS is 7th gen not 6th, GBA is 6th, so 7th v 8th gen it#s suppose to be :P

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sethnintendo
sethnintendo (on 08 February 2012)

A little rough start but with most issues addressed it looks like 3DS will be just as good or perhaps better than the DS!

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Michael-5
Michael-5 (on 08 February 2012)

I hope 3DS can hold momentum like DS did. Looking good so far, but I don't know if the 3DS will be as strong of a competitor in 2016 like DS was in 2009.

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Wandamaximoff
Wandamaximoff (on 08 February 2012)

One thing id like to know is what price point was these sales sold at? I mean was the ds The same price or more or less than the 3ds at launch? I know nintendo took a huge paycut on the 3ds to active these sales. Although these are impressive id like to see how the 3ds would be doing at the original price

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Teo
Teo (on 08 February 2012)

Like the accountant says, Sales look great but the CFO is not at all impress with those cash flows.

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Wh1pL4shL1ve_007
Wh1pL4shL1ve_007 (on 07 February 2012)

Quite sad that Theyre comparing 3ds and ds as compared to Vita vs 3ds. XD Just sayin.

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happydolphin
happydolphin (on 07 February 2012)

The probably will in another series (gap chartz maybe) It's still too early and vaccuous to compare Vita sales to anything for now.

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benao87
benao87 (on 07 February 2012)

It will be hard for 3DS to keep that pace, wondering what will be the games for next holiday season.

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happydolphin
happydolphin (on 07 February 2012)

It may be time for Nintendo to pop out the casual games now, it may be time. One certainty... is that a 2D Mario is urgently on its way late this year.

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