Zelda leads 3DS charge

Nintendo enjoyed a good week for 3DS thanks to the Zelda re-release.

Ocarina of Time 3D made it to No.2 in the chart upon its debut last week, and according to GfK Chart-Track data was bought by over 20 per cent of the handheld’s userbase in its first two days.

That sets the device up well for the summer selling season – a natural uplift for handheld games according to Nintendo UK head David Yarnton – and the crop of strong first-party games on the horizon.

We generally find that summer time is a good time for handheld gaming and we have lots of sampling and summertime events to get more people hands on with it – that leads us nicely up to all that great content coming out,” Yarnton told MCV.

The content includes next week’s Resident Evil: Mercenaries plus the 3DS first-party games announced at E3, including September’s StarFox 3D, Kid Icarus plus two new Mario games: Mario Kart 3D and Super Mario. Konami’s hotly-tipped Metal Gear Solid also arrives later in the year.

A growing range of software as the system finds its feet will help stem any scepticism from critics, too, said Yarnton.

If we were to acknowledge any mistakes from the launch it’s that we underestimated the different features of the 3DS,” he said.

We’ve explained the 3D effect very well and succinctly – people get it, but you can’t actually see it if you advertise it on TV. So we worked hard to get people to try it and that did very well. People understand that it’s 3D.

But what we didn’t have was something explaining the broader range of features with it. You’re at the point now where people are getting to grips with things like Street Pass and the more social elements.

There are aspects to the 3DS that are rising to the top, people are saying ‘I get it now’ and are ready to see what other games it has to offer.”