Nintendo on Tuesday announced that it has sold 4.5 million 3DS units in the handset’s first year of U.S. availability. Sales thus far have outpaced Nintendo’s original DS, which sold 2.3 million units in the U.S. during its first 12 months. Since launching last March, the 3DS has reached over 100 titles with over 9 million games sold, accounting for over $1.2 billion in total sales. “Nintendo 3DS closes its first year with a lengthy list of accomplishments but we’re still just scratching t...

In 2009, the Nintendo DS generated 70% of all portable gaming revenue in the United States, but in the last two years its share has been devoured by Android and iOS. The two mobile operating systems now account for 58% of all portable gaming revenue in the United States according to Flurry, up from 34% in 2010 and 19% in 2009. Nintendo DS fell from a 70% share in 2009 to a 57% share in 2010 and tanked again this year to an estimated 36% share. Sony’s revenue share slid substantially as well. It fell fro...

Nintendo posted its first quarterly operating loss ever on Thursday in its fiscal first quarter earnings report. The Japanese gaming company recorded a net loss of 25.5 billion Yen ($328 million), which was on a par with the net loss of 25.2 billion Yen ($324 million) the firm reported during the same quarter last year. In addition, it posted a net operating loss of 37.7 billion Yen ($485 million), down from an operating profit of 23.3 billion Yen ($299 million) during the first quarter of 2010. Nintendo also...

A new report from market research firm Gartner on Tuesday suggests global spending on the gaming ecosystem will exceed $74 billion this year, up 10.4% from 2010. Gartner also expects annual spending on video games to reach $112 billion by 2015. As the video game industry undergoes a transition that places a sharper focus on casual gaming, Gartner now includes the following in its definition of the “gaming ecosystem:” dedicated video game consoles; software for dedicated consoles; handheld dedicate...

Will Microsoft enter the portable gaming market to compete with Nintendo, Sony, and Apple? According to its chief operating officer, Dennis Durkin, not yet. In an interview with Industry Gamers, Durkin explained that the portable gaming market is too crowded right now and that there’s too much change happening. “I’m not sure I would want to be launching a dedicated portable device right now into that market,” Durkin said. “I think the DS – if you look at the 3DS, certainly vers...

Consumer electronics tracker NPD Group on Thursday released its tallies for the U.S. gaming industry, revealing continued console sales growth and rebounding software sales. Last month, sales of video game software dipped to $735.4 million from $875.3 million in March 2010. While sales shrank sequentially, as they do in April in many industries, gaming software jumped 26% from $398.5 million in April 2010 to $503.2 million last month. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in April, having cl...

On Monday, Nintendo released a statement confirming that it will reveal the successor to the original Wii during the E3 Expo tradeshow in Los Angeles — which takes place June 7-9, 2011. The new console, currently codenamed “Project Cafe,” may feature a new “Screen Stream” controller option that will provide each individual gamer with their own touchscreen display, although Nintendo did not disclose any of the console’s new features in its statement. The Japanese gaming firm als...

If Amazon U.K.’s pre-orders are any indication of what’s to come, the Nintendo 3DS could be as big of a hit as it was in Japan when it launched in February of 2010. On its Twitter account Thursday, Amazon UK said that the Nintendo DS has become the most pre-ordered console ever. U.K. residents interested in buying the device can purchase it for £187 ($381 USD). The Nintendo 3DS will launch in the United States on March 27th for $249.99. As its name suggests, the 3DS offers a 3D display, and games...

Industry watcher NPD Group says sales of video game software in the U.S. declined by 5% year-over-year in January 2011, totaling $576 million. Console sales were down 8% to $324 million. On the back of continued strong sales of the Microsoft Kinect and PlayStation Move motion-based controllers, sales of video games accessories increased 6% year-over-year to $235 million. The only console to see growth in January was Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which sold 381,000 units — a 14.1% increase year-over-year. NPD ...

Today, Nintendo announced that its popular line of DS handheld gaming systems have become “the nation’s best-selling video game system of all time.” With sales of over 47 million units since its release in 2004, the DS passes Sony’s PlayStation 2 to claim the top spot. The company also noted that its Wii console sold more than 7 million units for the third consecutive year in a row, a feat Nintendo brags has “never before been accomplished in the history of video games by a home cons...

Gaming giant Nintendo recently announced that during Black Friday week, U.S. consumers purchased a combined 1.5 million DS and Wii gaming systems. Holiday shoppers scooped up nearly 900,000 DS units and over 600,000 Wii consoles during the popular shopping debacle period. “U.S. shoppers bought about 9,000 Nintendo hardware systems nonstop for every hour of every day during the week of Black Friday,” said Nintendo of America’s president. Sales of Wii consoles were up slightly while sales o...

Today at E3, Nintendo delivered upon its promise and announced the 3DS, the only device of its kind to deliver 3D imagery without requiring users to wear dorky special glasses. The portables secret weapon is its 3.5″ 3D display which users can adjust based upon their proximity to the screen for optimal 3D viewing; there will also be an option to disable 3D. Like the 2D DS, the bottom display is a resistive touchscreen and the front-facing camera remains unchanged. Another neat feature is the dual camer...

April saw the video game industry suffer through its worst month in nearly 10 years, as both hardware and software sales tumbled for a combined total of 26%. Consoles saw the biggest decrease with a 36% drop to $398.5 million, while software titles and accessories fell 22% and 9% to $249.3 and $118.4 million respectively. According to NPD research analyst Anita Frazier, some of the decline has to do with Easter falling in early April. If it were to have fallen in the middle of the month as it did last year, F...

Sure it might turn out to be nothing more than an incredibly expensive fad, but whether you like it or not, 3D everything is going to continue to be shoved in your face for the foreseeable future. Case in point: The Nintendo 3DS (temporary name) which today was announced by Nintendo. Images, specs, pricing, a list of launch titles and just about anything else imaginable have been withheld, but we do know the 3DS is headed for a Q1 2011 release and that “games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the n...