Check out some noteworthy comments from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata regarding overseas 3DS sales below:<\/p>\n
When it comes to the overseas markets, we do not plan to launch New Nintendo 3DS\/3DS XL for the U.S. or Europe this year. Additionally, there are only a couple of big titles, \u201cSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS,\u201d and \u201cPok\u00e9mon Omega Ruby\u201d and \u201cPok\u00e9mon Alpha Sapphire,\u201d overseas as no \u201cYOKAI WATCH\u201d franchises or \u201cMonster Hunter 4 Ultimate\u201d will be scheduled this year there. Based on these observations, some might wonder if, apart from the domestic market, the sales of Nintendo 3DS will really be able to gain momentum in the overseas markets.<\/p>\n
The overseas markets are different from the Japanese market in both their stages of popularization of Nintendo 3DS and their market characteristics.<\/p>\n
The stage of popularization of Nintendo 3DS means the degree to which we have turned potential purchasing power into actual sales of the product in a market. In Japan, the total number of sales of Nintendo 3DS has reached nearly 17 million in the three and a half years since its launch. It is almost the same as the lifetime sales of GameBoy Advance released in 2001, which implies that it is reasonable that the sales of Nintendo 3DS have been temporarily slow moving in the Japanese market. This is one of the reasons we needed to bring New Nintendo 3DS\/3DS XL to the market this year. To the contrary, neither of the cumulative sales figures of Nintendo 3DS in the U.S. nor Europe is more than that in Japan despite, based on the historical performance, bigger sales potential. In short, Nintendo 3DS is still at an earlier stage of popularization in these two markets.<\/p>\n
Also, the difference in market characteristics shows up in the software sales pace. In the Japanese market, both hardware and software tend to sell during a short period along with a quick spread of information on them. In the U.S. and Europe, on the other hand, highly acclaimed games are likely to be longtime sellers.<\/p>\n
This is the sales transitions of \u201cPok\u00e9mon X\u201d and \u201cPok\u00e9mon Y,\u201d including their package versions, download versions and versions bundled with hardware, released in October last year. As you can see, the titles continue to sell for a long time in the U.S. and Canada in contrast with the sudden spurt in the Japanese market. Although the total sales figure of Nintendo 3DS is approximately 15 percent less in the U.S. and Canada than that in Japan, the combined sales of the \u201cPok\u00e9mon\u201d franchise there surpassed the number in Japan this June and have kept enlarging the gap.<\/p>\n
In other words, once a key title becomes popular, the selling power is sustained for a long time. In overseas markets, the key titles for the year-end sales season are \u201cSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS\u201d and \u201cPok\u00e9mon Omega Ruby\u201d and \u201cPok\u00e9mon Alpha Sapphire.\u201d On top of that, it would be important for us to take advantage of sales potential of the big titles we have released so far.<\/p>\n
We released \u201cTomodachi Life\u201d in overseas markets this year, which is the title released as \u201cTomodachi Collection: Shin-seikatsu\u201d (Japanese title) in Japan last year. \nIn Japan, the initial sales of this title were positive because it was the sequel to \u201cTomodachi Collection,\u201d released for Nintendo DS only in Japan and was a big hit. It is, however, completely new for the overseas markets. We therefore have made efforts to sell it steadily for a long time there. Please let me show you an interesting sales transition of this title in the European market.<\/p>\n
As you are aware, it has maintained stable sales for quite a long time. It has lost momentum lately, but we think it is because video games generally sell the least in September and October in Europe, and we anticipate that the sales will be boosted again toward the year-end sales season.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s compare this with the sales transition of \u201cAnimal Crossing: New Leaf,\u201d which was released almost one year ago. The initial sales of \u201cTomodachi Life\u201d are lower than \u201cAnimal Crossing: New Leaf\u201d due to the difference in brand awareness. However, the sales surpass \u201cAnimal Crossing: New Leaf\u201d in summer, which indicates that \u201cTomodachi Life\u201d has high sales potential.<\/p>\n
Both \u201cAnimal Crossing: New Leaf\u201d and \u201cTomodachi Life\u201d have few competing titles in the video game industry. We think it very important to fulfill sales potential of these types of games in order to vitalize the Nintendo 3DS business.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Iwata on overseas 3DS sales<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n