Nintendo Switch And 3DS Enjoyed A Huge Month In December US Sales

Nintendo enjoyed a great deal of success throughout 2017 thanks to Switch, and that didn't change during December in the United States. Ahead of NPD Group publicly releasing its sales report for the month, Nintendo has shared some figures from it that paint a positive picture for not just Switch, but 3DS as well.

Switch was December's best-selling game system in the US, with 1.5 million units sold during the NPD's reporting period (which covered a total of five weeks). Life-to-date sales for the console now stand at 4.8 million in the US alone; Nintendo's press release reiterated what it claimed recently about how this makes Switch the fastest-selling system ever through its first 10 months.

As for 3DS, combined sales across the "3DS family," which includes the 2DS, reached 750,000 during the December report period. That was an increase of 27% compared with December 2016, and it marks the system's best-selling month in the US since December 2014. US lifetime sales for the 3DS family now stand at 21 million.

Nintendo also noted that combined sales for Switch, 3DS, and SNES Classic Edition were 2.6 million in December, meaning the classic micro console sold roughly 350,000 units. The three represented more than 50% of total hardware sales during the month.

On the software side, Nintendo also highlighted its platforms' games that cracked the NPD's sales charts. When looking on a per-game basis (meaning different versions of multiplatform games are counted individually), Super Mario Odyssey was No. 3 during December, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was No. 4, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was No. 9, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon were Nos. 13 and 14, and Splatoon 2 was No. 16. Earlier this month, Nintendo discussed the high attach rates of some of its first-person Switch titles, revealing that Super Mario Odyssey is the system's top seller in the US.

We'll have more on US sales during December once the NPD shares its full report. In the meantime, you can read all about Nintendo's surprising new cardboard-based Switch game, Nintendo Labo.