High Demand for 3DS at Japanese Launch

It was to be expected…

Nintendo’s next handheld, the 3DS, is now on sale in Japan following its weekend launch.

With just 400,000 units available on the system’s first day of release (according to the Nikkei) and queues reportedly stretching to 750 people long, the first shipment of consoles sold out quickly. Many of the units were already tied up in pre-orders.

However, a second shipment became available on Sunday, with AndriaSang observing that the queuing situation had by that point apparently resolved itself.

Including the 400,000 already known about, a total of 1.5 million units are expected in Japan by the month’s end – with Nintendo predicting 4 million shipments worldwide within the same period.