3DS physical and digital game sales up 55% over 2011

NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime has said 3DS game sales have surpassed 20 million units in the US, and those figures are just for physical sales.

Speaking with GI International, Fils-Aime said in 2013 alone, sales of games for 3DS are up 55% over 2011 both digitally and physically - one of the biggest sellers being Fire Emblem Awakening with around 80,000 units sold digitally. The title has sold 240,000 units life-to-date in the US, so digital sales of the title account for one-third of total sales.

Luigi's Mansion has sold 415,000 units so far.

"We have 15 Nintendo-published titles available, both physically and digitally [on the 3DS]," he said. "So far in 2013, of those 15 available in this format, 11% of sales have come through full digital downloads of those games

"When the NPD numbers come out later this week, you're going to see life-to-date 3DS game sales surpass 20 million units in the US, and that's just physical. It doesn't include digital sales. So far in 2013 - through April 15 - 3DS game sales are up 55% versus last year, counting both physical and digital."

Reggie said that 67% of all 3DS owners have connected the handheld to the Internet, and through the connected space, they have downloaded over 41 million items from the eShop.

More titles are coming as well to the handheld, with the pace of releases over the next nine months "dramatically ramping up." The same can be said for Wii U, according to the NOA boss.

"What I would say about Wii U, is that the pace of launches has been slower than we hoped," he admitted. "But as we prepare for E3, the pace of launches for Wii U is going to dramatically increase.

"We believe consumers buy our systems first as a gaming system, then enjoy the other entertainment options, so that's why we're putting such a big emphasis on the gaming software."

Some of the titles hitting both 3DS and Wii U over the coming months and into the rest of the year were announced during a Nintendo Direct session today.