Nintendo 3DS Turns 10 - Top 10 Best-Selling 3DS Games - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 June 2021 / 4,906 Views
Nintendo's eighth-generation handheld game console, the Nintendo 3DS, recently celebrated its 10th birthday in North America and Europe. The 3DS released in Europe on March 25, 2011 and in North America on March 27, 2011. It had previously released in Japan a month earlier on February 26, 2011.
Nintendo had discontinued the 3DS on September 16, 2020 and managed to ship 75.94 million units of the handheld during its lifetime. The few remaining units are still being sold worldwide with weekly sales now below 2,000 units.
The Nintendo 3DS is the 12th best-selling video game platform in history. It is also Nintendo's sixth best-selling platform and fourth best-selling handheld behind the DS, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance.
The Nintendo 3DS proved most successful in North America and Japan with sales of 25.77 million and 24.65 million, respectively. The handheld also sold 21.07 million units in Europe and 4.44 million in the rest of the world.
62 games for the handheld managed to sell over one million units, 34 games sold more than two million units, 13 sold over five million units, and seven sold over 10 million units.
Mario Kart 7 is the biggest hit on the platform with 18.92 million units sold. The next three best-selling games on the 3DS belong to the Pokemon franchise. Pokémon X/Y sold 16.49 million units, Pokémon Sun/Moon sold 16.20 million units, and Pokémon Omega Ruby/Pokémon Alpha Sapphire sold 14.34 million units.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 was the fifth best-selling game on the 3DS with sales of 13.37 million units. Animal Crossing: New Leaf comes in sixth place with sales of 12.82 million, followed by Super Mario 3D Land with 12.77 million units sold.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS comes in at eighth place with 9.61 million units sold, followed by Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon in ninth with 8.89 million units sold. Yokai Watch 2: Bony Spirits/Fleshy Souls/Psychic Specters rounds out the top 10 with 7.30 million units sold.
Here is a list of the top 10 best-selling Nintendo 3DS games:
- Mario Kart 7 - 18.92 million
- Pokemon X/Y - 16.49 million
- Pokemon Sun/Moon - 16.20 million
- Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire - 14.34 million
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 13.37 million
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 12.82 million
- Super Mario 3D Land - 12.27 million
- Super Smash Bros. for 3DS - 9.61 million
- Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon - 8.89 million
- Yokai Watch 2: Bony Spirits/Fleshy Souls/Psychic Specters - 7.30 million
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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The last dedicated handheld, amazing way to go out. Was the sole reason for keeping Nintendo afloat during the dark Wii U days. Gonna miss it.
Right. The Wii u didn't sell well, but it likely made a profit consistently.
But you can still argue that the 3ds helped to keep nintendo in the public eye regardless of profit troubles.
Then on the other hand, the 3ds was the cause for the lack of wii u launch software. They had to divert so many resources to 3ds games after it got off to a slow start that the Wii u games didn't start releasing at a steady pace until 2013 or 14.
It was a troubled generation overall for different reasons. Both good consoles in the end, but far from perfect.
One of the best consoles ever.
Wow about 55 million copies of Pokemon games sold...
