Summary
Nintendohas updated its software sales for two of its older consoles that are no longer in production: the Nintendo GameCube and the 3DS.Nintendo’s first quarter for the 2025 fiscal year has recently concluded, and the company has released a financial report about its current status. The report provides various details on recent sales data, such as how the recentPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorandLuigi’s Mansion 2 HDremakes are bestsellers on the Switch. However, the report also provides details on some older consoles, the GameCube and 3DS, which are both no longer supported.
The Nintendo GameCube first launched in 2001 and was Nintendo’s primary home console for the sixth generation. While its library was robust with a number of critically-acclaimed games, the system’s shortcomings and lack of third-party support led it to having lower sales compared to its competitors, and it was discontinued in 2007. The Nintendo 3DS was the company’s premiere handheld gaming console in the eighth generation, becoming one ofNintendo’s most successful gaming consolesbefore it was discontinued in 2020. While both systems and their games are no longer in production, Nintendo has recently updated their numbers.
As reported byGoNintendo, the number of totalNintendo GameCube gamessold as of December 2022 is now 205.58 million units. That number apparently is 10K units higher than the previously reported number, which was last reported in March 2009, two years after the GameCube stopped production.
Updated Nintendo GameCube and 3DS Software Numbers:
The Nintendo 3DS' numbers have also been seeing some increased numbers, as it is a more recent system compared to the GameCube. According to Pierre485, the number of 3DS games sold is now 392.02 million units as of June 2024, with this number being 60K units higher than the previous figure reported three months back. Additionally,, 75.94 million systems total have been sold as well. This is quite notable, as whilethe Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShop storefronts shut down last year, some software is still being sold around the world, with Pierre speculating that Nintendo is likely still printing physical copies.
It’s both a little surprising and fun to see that even after a console has left the market and is no longer in production, the games for these older systems are still being purchased by gamers. The GameCube and Nintendo 3DS libraries have a number of underrated gems, some of which are trapped on these older consoles. Nintendo has been doing a lot of work to breathe life into older titles, such as remakingLuigi’s Mansion 2andPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorfor the Nintendo Switch, which were originally on the 3DS and GameCube respectively.
GameCube
Part of the sixth-generation console wars, the Nintendo GameCube was the company’s upgrade from the Nintendo 64 and saw them changing from a cartridge-based system to small discs. It battled against the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
3DS
The Nintendo 3DS was the next console in line for the company’s DS line and introduced a special 3D slider that allowed players to activate an overlayed 3D effect to certain titles, without the need for 3D glasses. It was introduced in the eighth-generation and went against the Sony Vita.
