Sales records for Nintendo’s digital eShop were broken last week with the release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. More than 4 million copies in Japan alone were sold over Nintendo’s eShop service. Nintendo has increasingly been pushing consumers to begin using the service to purchase games more often, as some of Nintendo’s games like Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem: Awakening were difficult to find in retailers at release in the U.S.
The game allows players to become mayor of their own virtual town and live life in this new world, playing the game and interacting with their townsfolk as they see fit. Players can also interact with other players by exchanging Friend Codes. Upon Animal Crossing’s release in the U.S., eShop sales had increased by 4 times from the previous week, selling 40,000 units a week.
As Nintendo’s digital distribution service gains more popularity, the 3DS may be seeing an increasingly digital future that helps drive hardware sales. Nintendo is discovering the value of never being out of stock with a product, though users are having to worry about the amount of space available in their 3DS for downloaded games. The game has even inspired a special edition of the 3DS XL, as Nintendo uses the game’s popularity to help sales of the more profitable version of the 3DS.
Source: GI.biz
