Nintendo 3DS hit the 5 m. mark in Japan

Less than a year since its launch, the Nintendo 3DS has sold 5 million units in its native Japan. That beats the original DS handheld console, which went on to become the best-selling console of all time. Its sales got off to a shaky start, which concerned Nintendo at the time, and was attributed to a lack of decent games. A high launch price of 25,000 yen also put a dent in the sales, but was slashed to 15,000 yen to encourage the buying public. Over here in the UK it went from almost £300 to around £130. Big names turned up fashionably late This and the launch of some headline games including Super Mario 3D Land, Monster Hunter 3 and Mario Kart 7 helped 3DS sales pick up. However the 5 million sales record is a bittersweet achievement, as the company is actually losing money on the 3DS, leading to an unprecedented yearly loss.