This week’s Media Create report has officially confirmed that the 3DS has officially passed the Wii’s lifetime sales in Japan. 3DS is now at 12,752,731 units, compared to the Wii’s 12,698,878 units.
Originally released in Japan in December 2006, the Wii in Japan had a distinctive feature the rest of the world didn’t experience: Wii no Ma, a video on demand service that made TV executives nervous. The Wii itself was a global phenomenon that expanded the range of the potential gaming fanbase, a few good years before smartphones and tablets were claimed to have done the same.
While the 3DS has had rougher sailing than the Wii, Nintendo has proven it is more capable than reviving its flagship portable. A price cut was followed by a steady stream of valuable first party software, that’s come out in consistent amount and quality to such a degree that gamers were simply compelled to buy the system. This year’s string of hits, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Fire Emblem: Awakening, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf, seemed set to outdo each other, increasing interest in the system exponentially. In Japan, this lineup was augmented further with the wildly popular Tomodachi Collection.
And now, the 3DS has reached this landmark in Japan thanks to Monster Hunter 4, an exclusive to the system. Whereas last year’s Monster Hunter 3 boasted cross platform play with an HD Wii U version, Monster Hunter 4 was deliberately made exclusive to make a lot of money for Capcom, and a lot of money for Nintendo. Astoundingly, 3DS has surpassed in 2.5 years the numbers earned by the Wii in Japan for a cumulative 7 years. The real clincher, of course, is this landmark has arrived before Pokemon X and Y. It’s a reminder that you can’t underestimate the most enduring of video game companies.
Source: NeoGAF
