Nintendo has sold "just shy" of 400,000 3DS units since the console's March 27 debut in the U.S., the company confirmed Thursday.
Nintendo also sold 1.3 million copies of "Pokemon White Version" and 1.1 copies of "Pokemon Black Version." Altogether, the company sold more than 460,000 DS units last month.
NPD Group, which tracks U.S. video game sales, said while the Nintendo 3DS sold about 100,000 fewer units that the Nintendo DS did when it debuted in November 2004, the 3DS did not have the benefit of a holiday sales boost and costs $100 more than the DS.
"Because of the price differential, the 3DS generated greater revenues than did the DS in its launch month," NPD said. "In addition, the 3DS was launched in an environmentwhere there are more devices that can support the portable gaming experience such as tablets and smartphones."
The Nintendo DS remained the best-selling hardware platform in March.
The Pokemon sales, meanwhile, break the previous sales records of "Pokemon Silver" and "Pokemon Gold" from October 2000, NPD said. Rounding out the top five games in terms of physical sales (not digital) were "Homefront," "Dragon Age II," and "Call of Duty: Black Ops."
The best-selling 3DS game, however, was Capcom's "Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition." Sales for 3DS software last month actually bested sales of DS software back in 2004.
"Both Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo DS family had a strong month, indicating that Nintendo has something for everyone," Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America's senior director of corporate communications, said in a statement.
Nintendo said an upcoming upgrade will add an Internet browser and access to the Nintendo eShop for 3DS. It will also allow Nintendo DSi and DSi XL owners to transfer their DSiWare games to the 3DS. Netflix access, meanwhile, will be added later this summer.
NPD said the PSP, Xbox 360, and the PS3 platforms all enjoyed a unit sales increase compared to March 2010. The PSP benefited from a $40 price drop at the beginning of the quarter, NPD found.
Xbox 360 sold 433,000 units in March, making it the month's number one console, Microsoft said in a blog post.
Sony said total PlayStation 3 sales have hit 50 million units worldwide as of March 29, while the company has also sold 8 million Move controllers as of April 3.
Nintendo said it sold 290,000 Wii consoles in March. Its "Wii Play: Motion" game launches on June 13, which comes packaged with a black Wii Remote Plus controller.
There are reports that Nintendo will introduce its successor to the Wii, a new HD console, at June'e E3 gaming conference, but Nintendo has not yet made any announcements.
The $20 PS3 network card, meanwhile, was the number one accessory in March, the second time since its June 2008 debut that it has ranked first.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the Nintendo 3DS, the slideshow below, and the Nintendo 3DS Game Lineup Roundup.