Could 3DS sell 150k on day one?

With its UK launch nearly upon us, Nintendo has said that pre-orders for the 3DS are running at double the rate experienced with Wii back in 2006.

A retail source has revealed to MCV that the pioneering motion-sensing home console received in the region of 65,000 pre-orders prior to its arrival in the UK.

This means that the 3DS has effectively already sold 120,000 units in the country. This offers up the tantalising prospect of a possible 150k – or perhaps even higher – day one sales blitz.

The reaction to Nintendo 3DS has exceeded our wildest expectations,” Nintendo’s UK general manager David Yarnton stated. Glasses-free 3D entertainment has truly arrived.

"It’s almost certain that the number of Nintendo 3DS consoles sold on Friday will exceed the number of 3D televisions sold in the whole of 2010. Until now 3D has been too expensive, too clumsy and too restricted. With Nintendo 3DS it’s mobile. It’s affordable. It’s glasses-free. And it’s here, now.”

Amazon revealed last week that the 3DS is already its most pre-ordered console ever.

Around 1,200 stores will be opening their doors in the UK at midnight on Thursday night. A number of retailers have been offering some seemingly crazy trade-in deals on the machine to try and win key market share.