Nintendo’s New Nintendo 3DS launched earlier this year in Japan and Australia and is selling at an all time high, but other regions will have to wait until 2015 to be able to purchase the handheld.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata stated that the new handheld is in different stages of development in different regions. In Japan, consoles are often sold very quickly. However, in western territories, software drives hardware sales. As a result, Japanese consumers are ready to move on to a new console and new games like Yokai Watch and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate which are already on their way in Japan. North America and Europe however don’t have those games, nor anything other than Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire out for the console this holiday season. So it will struggle to sell when the “old” 3DS is still selling fairly well.

Satoru Iwata says

“When it comes to the overseas markets, we do not plan to launch New Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL for the U.S. or Europe this year. Additionally, there are only a couple of big titles, ‘Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS,’ and ‘Pokémon Omega Ruby’ and ‘Pokémon Alpha Sapphire,‘ overseas has no ‘YOKAI WATCH’ franchises or ‘Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate‘ will be scheduled this year there. Based on these observations, some might wonder if, apart from the domestic market, the sales of Nintendo 3DS will really be able to gain momentum in the overseas markets.

The overseas markets are different from the Japanese market in both their stages of popularization of Nintendo 3DS and their market characteristics. The stage of popularization of Nintendo 3DS means the degree to which we have turned potential purchasing power into actual sales of the product in a market. In Japan, the total number of sales of Nintendo 3DS has reached nearly 17 million in the three and a half years since its launch. It is almost the same as the lifetime sales of Game Boy Advance released in 2001, which implies that it is reasonable that the sales of Nintendo 3DS have been temporarily slow moving in the Japanese market.This is one of the reasons we needed to bring New Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL to the market this year. To the contrary, neither of the cumulative sales figures of Nintendo 3DS in the U.S. nor Europe is more than that in Japan despite, based on the historical performance, bigger sales potential. In short, Nintendo 3DS is still at an earlier stage of popularization in these two markets.

Also, the difference in market characteristics shows up in the software sales pace. In the Japanese market, both hardware and software tend to sell during a short period along with a quick spread of information on them. In the U.S. and Europe, on the other hand, highly acclaimed games are likely to be longtime sellers.”

In short don’t expect it anytime before the new year.

My Opinion:

I completely agree with Iwata’s reasoning, although it doesn’t make the wait any more bearable. I think we will see the system on shelves around this time next year. The only thing stopping me from getting a 3DS right now is that Xenoblade Chronicles won’t be available on the “old” 3DS.

Kaleob Archambeau is an Associate Writer for MONG. He also has no clue what Yokai Watch is. You can follow him on the Twitters and the Tumblers