With the beginning of each new year, we eagerly look ahead to see what the future holds for us. But it’s also a good time to take stock on the previous year and evaluate the last twelve months and how the gaming world fared.

With that in mind, the 2014 sales data for Japan is now available, and basically there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Nintendo’s 3DS system was the best selling platform by far, selling almost three times the next most popular device.

Here’s the full list:

2014 hardware sales (followed by lifetime sales)

  1. Nintendo 3DS – 3,153,045 (17,847,056)
  2. PlayStation Vita – 1,147,936 (3,423,075)
  3. PlayStation 4 – 925,570 (925,570)
  4. Wii U – 604,856 (2,123,283)
  5. PlayStation 3 – 450,034 (10,018,534)
  6. Xbox One – 45,958 (45,958)

A few notes to go along with this data:

  • the “Nintendo 3DS” total includes Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS LL/XL, New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS LL/XL.
  • the New Nintendo 3DS alone sold 1.199 million since debuting on October 11, 2014, making it technically second in the list only after the 3DS itself, which is still great news for the 3DS.
  • these numbers cover sales surveyed from December 30, 2013 to December 28, 2014.

The bad news, then? Although not specifically Nintendo-related, it does affect the company as it reflects the industry as a whole. Total sales of hardware and software in Japan in 2014 were down by about 10% when compared to the previous year.

Here are all the figures for you to ponder over:

Hardware sales in yen (followed by US$)

  • 2014 – 142.15 billion yen (US$1.19 billion)
  • 2013 – 155.31 billion yen (US$1.30 billion)
  • 2014 sales compared to 2013 sales: 91.5%

Software sales in yen (followed by US$)

  • 2014 226.40 billion yen (US$1.89 billion)
  • 2013 253.66 billion yen (US$2.11 billion)
  • 2014 sales compared to 2013 sales: 89.3%

So that’s the way things were in 2014, in Japan at least. What do you think of these figures? Are you surprised that overall sales are down? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: Anime News Network