The 3DS hit the ground running last month after nearly a year of hype and media coverage. Early estimates pegged the first week sales numbers around 500k-750k. Yeah, those were a bit high. Nintendo itself just revealed through an interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime that the numbers were more like 400k. March as a whole was good for the DS family with the entire line accounting for nearly 860,000 units sold with the previous generation units racking up 460k during the entire month.
The 3DS also failed to eclipse the original DS’ first week sales of around 480,000, although the 3DS’ higher price and the holiday launch of the DS probably accounts for the difference. However, Nintendo previously publicly stated that the 3DS saw more first-day sales than any other previous model. But now that the frenzied launch week is over, reports are trickling in that the 3DS sales numbers are dropping dramatically. April’s numbers will probably tell the real story about the 3DS.