3DS surpasses 15m units sold in US

Nintendo’s 3DS handheld has sold more than 15m units in the US life-to-date, Nintendo of America has announced.

The milestone accounts for all iterations of the 3DS sold in the US, with the company stating its the eighth Nintendo platform to hit the figure.

That said,Games Industrynotes that the 3DS is still trailing the performance of its predecessors by a fairly wide margin. Nintendo reported in March that the system had sold a total of 17.5m units in the Americas over five fiscal years. The DS moved 29.9m units across 10 years, the Game Boy Advance sold 41.6m over seven years, and the original Nintendo Game Boy sold 44m units over a span of only five years.

Still, the 3DS has been gaining sales momentum this year – thanks in major part to the February launch of the New 3DS. Hardware sales for the handheld have been up more than 50 per cent year-over-year over the first six months of 2015.

Nintendo of America executive VP of sales and marketing Scott Moffitt spoke on the handheld’s positive results – especially in recent times.

"While crossing 15 million units is certainly a significant milestone, we are equally excited about the new momentum we’ve created in 2015 thanks to new hardware and an unrivaled library of software," Moffitt said.

"With more great games on the way and a hardware system for every type of gamer, 2015 is shaping up to be one of the stronger years yet for Nintendo 3DS in the United States."