3DS sets sales record in US, 'no widespread issues' with portable

It's official: The 3DS is a hit. Despite reports of ample stocks of the handheld sitting on store shelves, Nintendo today said that "US day-one sales numbers for Nintendo 3DS were the highest of any Nintendo handheld system in our history." The company did not offer up specific numbers, promising sales figures alongside NPD numbers on April 14. However, the statement means the three-dimensional handheld outsold the Game Boy Advance, the original DS, the DSi, and the DSi XL during their first 24 hours on the market.

The 3DS's robust sales numbers were not unexpected. On Friday, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian revealed Nintendo had confirmed preorders for the 3DS were roughly twice those of the Wii console during a similar time frame prelaunch. In Japan, it sold 375,000 units in 48 hours and also dominated the software charts for the week. In Great Britain, the portable system was Amazon UK's most preordered system ever.

Today, Nintendo also addressed reports that the 3DS was experiencing system crashes during gameplay. In a statement, the company said that, "The number of calls and emails received by our customer support center is well below the rate experienced during past hardware launches, and there are no widespread issues." It directed anyone experiencing problems to visit the website http://support.nintendo.com or call its help line at 800-255-3700.

Priced at $250, the 3DS features a 3.53-inch 3D-enabled top screen and a 3.02-inch touch-panel bottom screen. Its PICA200 GPU offers a 200MHz standard clock speed, while its battery supports three to five hours per charge for 3DS games, depending on settings. The system also includes a 2.4GHz 802.11 Wi-Fi connector and has a raw materials cost of around $101.

The 3DS also boasts a bevy of other features, including three cameras, a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, a new circular analog control nub, and a 2GB SD memory card. As seen in GameSpot's unboxing of the device (below), gamers will also find a docking station in the package, a stylus, and six AR cards used for augmented-reality games.

For a full rundown on what to expect from Nintendo's new system, check out GameSpot's 3DS Launch Center.