Nintendo’s 3DS handheld console has reached sales of 15 million units in the U.S. since launch, the company announced.
That makes the 3Ds the eighth Nintendo system to surpass 15 million units sold, according to the company.
The sales numbers are all the more impressive when we take into account that the system has been around since 2011, but continues to see healthy sales right up to the present-day; it has not seen the decline that many systems face after 4 or 5 years on the market. Nintendo says that sales are actually up 50% this year over the same period last year.
What is the secret to the 3DS’s success? A steady line-up of games, from classics to newer titles, has helped. But really, a lot of the credit can go to the mere fact that the 3DS just doesn’t really have much competition in the hand-held space. Sony’s PS Vita just hasn’t made a huge impression on buyers, and Microsoft does not even have a player at all in the hand-held arena. Mobile devices, once seen as a threat to the 3DS, have not been able to forge a real identity as gaming platforms, and have continued to be plagued by casual and freemium apps that just don’t pull players away from their 3DS’s in large numbers.
So, for the meantime, the 3DS still rules in hand-held. Having reached its 15 million Unit milestone, can the device keep going for 5 more years? Only time will tell.