Hardware 3DS US Hardware Sales - Low Demand or Ample Supply?

[IBNobody]

All the major US online retailers (Amazon.com, Walmart, Best Buy, and Gamestop) still have the 3DS in stock.

The average US e-Bay price for a new 3DS is under the MSRP.

Do you think that this is because there aren't that many people wanting to buy a 3DS?
Do you think that Nintendo was able to ship enough units to retailers to cover preorders and day-zero orders?
Do you think that many people cancelled their preorders, and that now we are in a 3DS glut?
Or do you think that the iSheep had to buy an iPad 2, and this is sucking resources from the rest of the tech sector?

I'm curious and a little bit disappointed. I was hoping to flip one of the 3DS' I ordered to help pay for the other.

 

[Nathan Drake]

It seems Nintendo was smart enough to actually generate enough consoles this go around to meet demand. Even with most stores where people are at, they can still walk in and just buy a 3DS. I don't think it is lack of demand, the pre-orders surpassed that of the Wii which had plenty of pre-orders itself.

 

[Cornell]

My hand is a dolphin

 

[cris92x]

They had a lot of time to ship enough units plus they saw what happened at the jap launch so they probably had a safe estimate on how much they would need.

 

[DSGamer64]

I think there is less hype this time around. To me a lot of people don't see the 3DS as a new console completely but rather as a DS system with 3D effects. Plus Nintendo honestly didn't do a lot to market it this time around. The DS had a huge hype because it was announced after such a long period with the Game Boy name and I think Nintendo wants to continue that trend with the DS name for a while longer, I mean the Game Boy name lasted from 1986 until approximately 2005, 19 years is a lot of time to go by the same name. Another issue I see is the price point is a bit higher, plus there are less games to interest the die hard Nintendo audience this launch meanwhile the DS had a much better lineup for it's launch in my opinion. I mean they didn't launch with any of their flagship titles, instead they come out with another lousy Nintendogs game just with cats and 3rd party support is pretty terrible too. Nintendo's big hitters aren't expected until early summer at best, Ocarina of Time slated for early July but until then what do we have? Dead or Alive and Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor, those are the only two reasonably appealing games, the rest is shovelware shit for North America.

The 3DS had a slow launch because there are no games to increase the hype.

 

[IBNobody]

They had a lot of time to ship enough units plus they saw what happened at the jap launch so they probably had a safe estimate on how much they would need.

Let's hope this is the case and not a lack/softening of demand due to the backlash of the headache-inducing 3D.

My neighbors (who are DSi gamers) didn't even know that the 3DS was releasing this week.

 

[p1ngpong]

I put it down to general indifference to the console because of things such as worries over the negative effects of the 3D and battery life. Coupled with the fact that the launch line up of titles is incredibly weak. I was seriously considering getting a 3DS on launch, but there just aren't any games for it that I really want to play. So I gave it a miss.

 

[KingVamp]

@DsGamer64

It sold a lot in Japan, I doubt that any of that is the issue.

There is only one game (maybe) consider shovelware.

Nintendo just was smart with the supply.

 

[RoMee]

I think it's a combination of bad timing and poor advertising
Outside of the internet, there's not much buzz at all and right now alot of people are broke, if they had release it earlier like Xmas or in February when most people get their income tax, they would had sold out already.

Or maybe they made more than enough to go around..

 

[Chesskid1]

lol, there is NOT low demand.

nintendo made 1.6 million 3DSes for launch. in comparision, with wii there was only about 500k and i didn't have a problem getting one at launch. PS3 was 400k, original DS 300k. They simply flooded the market. They still may sell out in a few days though.

 

[Jugarina]

The problem I think was the price and the release date. I think they would have had much better sales If they waited until June to launch.

I myself would have liked to get a yellow and black color with a radioactive symbol on the top. That would have drawn bigger crowds me thinks.

 

[notmeanymore]

The 3DS doesn't have the same...general appeal as the Wii did. Anybody could look at a video of people playing the Wii (or the Kinect now), and say "Hey that looks like fun." With the 3DS, if you don't look at one yourself, you're going purely on faith in Nintendo.

I'm not saying that they didn't sell well, I'm saying it could have sold better if there was some way to show the world how well the 3D works. I guess that's what the Best Buy campaign is for.

 

[Zoroark1989]

Nintendo made too many units for launch screwing the Ebay and craiglist sellers lol I say, it was a smart move on their part. What we have to do is wait for the upcoming Nintendo Press Release on first week sales of the system.

 

[ferret7463]

Around where i'm at there was NO advertising outside of the net. I guess in my area if does not go with a Pickup Trucks or Possum Gizzards, than they want nothing to do with it.

 

[Rockym]

Nintendo made too many units for launch screwing the Ebay and craiglist sellers lol I say, it was a smart move on their part. What we have to do is wait for the upcoming Nintendo Press Release on first week sales of the system.

I say lol at resellers too. I remember reading that Nintendo stated they wanted to try to discourage the grey market with the 3DS and it looks like they succeeded.

Also, I honestly don't believe there were really more preorders for the 3DS than the Wii. I'm thinking they are trying to create more hype to get more 3DS sales.

 

[chyyran]

I just think that Nintendo just marketed and named it badly. Most people have a DS and it just looks so similar and the name, 3DS.. Most people outside of the Internet would just thinks it's another DS

 

[RNorthex]

the price, not being able to watch the 3d effect through videos make it sell less, but one of the reason behind the 3ds' delay was that nintendo wanted to produce enough units b4 launch
so go figure, imo it sells really good

 

[Rayder]

There is also the possibility that many won't get it until Christmas.

 

[TheNeck]

I think nintendo finally made the right decision to have plenty of systems available for the 3DS launch, not like other systems they have released in the past. But the problem with that, people think the 3DS is not selling well, which in fact it could be.

Also I think the 3DS will be the hot item this christmas, along with the NGP, if it does in fact only cost $250 like the 3DS.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

I went to walmart yesterday and they still had a large quantity in stock. I bet a week later they will still have a good stock of them. The thing is, if anyone wanted a 3DS then they were most likely waiting for the doors of whatever store to open so they could get one, anybody else is just waiting for pay day or they don't care to spend that much cash on a freaking handheld gaming device.