Japanese Weekly 3DS Sales Up Sharply Following Price Drop

The Nintendo 3DS has seen a sharp increase in weekly Japanese sales following a 40 percent price cut on August 11, achieving a sales rate not seen since just after the system's launch. Total Japanese sales for the week ended August 14 were 214,821, according to Famitsu publisher Enterbrain (via Andriasang) -- that's 50 times higher than the last full week before the price cut, and is the highest mark since the system's second week on sale. Nikkei independently reports similar weekly sales of 207,000 3DS units for the week. The 3DS has now sold over 1.5 million units overall in Japan, according to Enterbrain. After achieving over 370,000 Japanese sales in just two days, 3DS sales quickly settled at a level between 20,000 and 60,000 weekly sales in the country through June. That mark dropped even further in the weeks following the announcement of an impending price cut. Nintendo also hopes to increase moribund American sales for the system with a similar $80 price cut, effective August 12. But Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews predicts September 3DS sales of 150,000 to 180,000 units in the U.S., an improvement that may not be as high as Nintendo would like.