Nintendo's 3DS has outstripped the first-year sales figure of its 3DS predecessor.
Nintendo Of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told USA Today that the boost to 3DS sales following the release of Super Mario 3D Land - which has sold half a million units in the to become thefastest-selling Mario handheld game of all time - and the recentglobal price drop had seen 3DS sales surge past those of its predecessor.
"What this has been able to do is drive our Nintendo 3DS business in only eight months to surpass the full first-year volume of the original DS, and we still have the bulk of the holiday to go," he said. "And we still have the launch of Mario Kart 7 to continue driving full-year sales of Nintendo 3DS."
By the end of October, 1.65 million 3DS units had been sold in the United States. DS sold 2.37 million units in its first 12 months on shelves, meaning 720,000 3DS systems have been sold in the US so far this month. The lion's share of those followed Super Mario 3D Land's release on November 13; last week's sales were up 325 per cent on the first week of the month.