Just as we expected, sales of the new Nintendo 3DS soared upon its launch on Sunday. Gamers flocked to stores like Best Buy and GameStop at 12:01 to pick up the first 3 dimensional, hand-held gaming system of its kind.
The 3DS promises a 3D gaming and video experience like none other. With the ability to not only give gamers a unique experience while playing; the 3DS will have the capability to stream movies straight from Netflix to your hand by summer time… no ridiculous 3D glasses required.
No official sales figures have been released however, Time reported that “Nintendo sold around 375,000 units last month during the handheld’s initial 48 hours on sale in Japan,” making it Amazon UK’s most pre-ordered item in history. As far as US sales go thus far, Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian believes “preorders for the 3DS are roughly twice those of the Wii console during a similar time frame prelaunch.”
For the hand-full of stores offering midnight madness sales on the hand-held device, lines formed around the block. Patrons were treated to 3DS previews while waiting for their turn to purchase the latest and greatest technologically advanced gaming system.
But not all stores partook in the midnight festivities. Walmart chose to save the excitement for regularly scheduled Sunday morning store hours to open the flood gates for 3DS purchases. In true Walmart fashion, the superstore appealed to the masses through pricing deals. Wait, how does it go? Oh that’s right…“Save money, live better.” Anyway, Walmart’s angle is to allow customers to trade older DS models for $100 credits toward purchases of the 3DS. The only catch is all trade-ins must include AC power adaptors.
With a price tag of $250, is it worth it? Our geek pad here at eZanga had mixed reviews, but for the most part agreed that the 3DS is one-of-a-kind and will be for a while. The Netflix capabilities and altered reality gaming are big components in that conclusion. Justin England raved that the remake of the game The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time for 3DS “might be the best video game ever made.” Pretty convincing if you ask me!
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Tags: 3D, Nintendo, video games
