Nintendo Q2 profits up 36% (what economic downturn?)

by Christopher Grant { Oct 30th 2008 at 10:45AM }

There are exactly two groups not projecting doom and gloom in the face of the current economic crisis: knapsack-on-a-stick manufacturers and Nintendo. A combination of clever marketing, unique products, and black magic resulted in a record six-month period, with Q2 quarterly profits up 36% thanks to strong sales of both the DS and Wii platforms. And things are still looking good, despite the company cutting its profit forecast some 3% due to the stronger yen. Nintendo upped its forecast for Wii console sales from 26.5m to 27.5m and upped DS software sales to 207m units from 197m.

Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata laughed off the economic "downturn" saying, "I think it is safe to say strong game demand is intact despite all this talk about the financial crisis." Fellow Japanese gaming giant Sony might not be faring so well but, indeed, its games business isn't the source of its financial woes. Here are some overall numbers from the Big N: lifetime Wii sales are 34.55 million; lifetime DS sales are 84.33 million (more than the Game Boy Advance!*); and Wii Fit has sold an incredible 8.7 million units since launching in Japan last December.

*Combined with Game Boy Color, the original Game Boy still holds the record: 118.69M units!

Tags: Nintendo

Related From Joystiq

Nintendo: NSMB Wii has sold 2 million in US
3 days ago
November NPD: Modern Warfare 2 sells 6 million, DS dominates hardware
4 days ago
Nintendo DS exceeds 10 million units in the UK
4 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

FSK405K @ Oct 30th 2008 10:50AM

Gas prices up? Airline tickets more expensive? Guess what, demand for videogames increases.

Dirty @ Oct 30th 2008 11:02AM

Gas prices are down.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 30th 2008 11:08AM

Yeah they're definitely down here in Michigan I got gas at $2.40 a gallon yesterday

xFenixKnightx @ Oct 30th 2008 11:11AM

Waaaaayyyyyyyy down. $1.99 in some oarts of town here in H-town. I filled up on $33.00 (V-6 Infinity G37)

:D

ExMcCloud @ Oct 30th 2008 11:13AM

Damn Fenixx 1.99 GOOD LORD...ANd I got your friend request on XBL wen are u usually on? (Send me a PSN request to)

FSK405K @ Oct 30th 2008 11:15AM

This report is for the six-month period from April to September, during which US gasoline was at $3.50 or above, on average. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_chart.gif

ExMcCloud @ Oct 30th 2008 11:18AM

Ok FSK but its OCTOBER?

Mr Khan @ Oct 30th 2008 11:23AM

Philly rocked through the victory riots (a lovely experience indeed) buying gas at $2.65 a gallon

xFenixKnightx @ Oct 30th 2008 11:32AM

ExMcCloud

Will do. Yeah I'm on after wk usually around 5:30pm for maybe an hour or so and usually every night starting around 10:00pm. I'll hop on PS3 maybe once or twice a week. Probably more now since I just got Wipeout HD. That game is gorgeous!

Chin-Poh @ Oct 30th 2008 12:34PM

$2.09 at the northwest side of Houston. : )

Biff_McFresh @ Oct 30th 2008 12:51PM

Finally dropped below 3 dollars in here in Los Angeles. Was almost 4.60 a few months back if memory serves. Redunkulous.

BigD145 @ Oct 30th 2008 12:54PM

Gas will be right back up after the election. This happened last time.

AwesomeTown @ Oct 30th 2008 1:03PM

~$2.40 up here in MA

Everybody's doing it. I just wanted to be popular.

CGamble20 @ Oct 30th 2008 5:02PM

$1.88 in Northeast Kansas. Bitches.

t_m @ Oct 31st 2008 2:53AM

$6.2 in the UK.

I wish americans would stop bitching about "high" fuel prices when they have some of the cheapest on the planet.

Here's an idea... use some of those tech companies you have to make some slightly more efficient vehicles, then you could stop sending billions of dollars a week to dodgy regimes in the Middle East to pay for all your gas...

CGamble20 @ Nov 6th 2008 6:13PM

Hey t_m here's an idea...

Actually get Europe to develop a successful company before bitching about the apparent weakness in Americas.

Burritoclock @ Oct 30th 2008 11:03AM

Sweet picture.

jorojoserojas @ Oct 30th 2008 11:04AM

Fantastic! My knapsack-on-a-stick stocks are gonna shoot up any minute now!

Also, I've invested heavily in cardboard boxes and markers.

Blazur @ Oct 30th 2008 12:57PM

Don't forget red and white checkered table cloths. Those are sure to sell well during the depression as well.

Dirty @ Oct 30th 2008 11:07AM

Im guessing that Games wont see a hit until holidays. I dont see it being a very good holiday for a lot of people.

I work in the construction industry, we are seeing a lot of sales people in our office as of late, our suppliers are laying people off and we are having to compete and a much higher level for projects that would have been previously just been handed to us.

Although if history serves me right, Hollywood has had successes during hard times as people look for an escape. Perhaps games will be sustained by this same effect.

Shagittarius @ Oct 30th 2008 11:08AM

I think Nintendo is going to find that over the course of the global recession they will be affected more than their competitors.

Casual gamers are more likely to stop buying games than hard core gamers during tough times.

Iwata can laugh all he wants but I think hes only laughing ahead of the real trouble which game companies and particularly Nintendo are going to find themselves in.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 30th 2008 11:10AM

I agree I have bought games over food a few times...lolz

CJC @ Oct 30th 2008 11:25AM

Maybe Shagi, but if they keep their prices low, and the same wide sector of the population that counts as as casual gamers is looking for some escapism, there is a good chance they'll go to Nintendo.

Mr Khan @ Oct 30th 2008 11:25AM

Possibly. Consumer confidence is on the slide, but once again, video games are generally isolated from this

Though some potential buyers could be lost to the cheaper 360's, definitely.

Superstar90 @ Oct 30th 2008 11:44AM

I highly doubt that... The DS/Wii print money. And if they slow down, they can always drop the price and still make ALOT of profit.

Dante G @ Oct 30th 2008 12:03PM

There are lots of kids that would want a Wii or a DS as a Christmas present. My guess is that this holiday season will be Nintendo's all over again, cause real hardcore gamers already have their current gen consoles.

BigD145 @ Oct 30th 2008 12:57PM

Nintendo will weather the recession just fine. They are the low cost entertainment alternative considering their consoles are cheaper and so are their games. They could drop the console prices and still see profit.

Blazur @ Oct 30th 2008 12:59PM

Shag, that's a very reasonable conclusion. The hardcore gamers make games a priority, while casuals might finally come to the realization that spending money on Wii games is foolish.

Markez @ Oct 30th 2008 3:23PM

Yes, yes, everything is bad for Nintendo, thanks Shag, we get it.

bm @ Oct 30th 2008 3:27PM

Hahaha, you poor butthurt teenagers said that same shit last year! And the year before. "Yeah but, this time..." lol

thispaceforsale @ Oct 30th 2008 11:18AM

ds surpasses gba sales, that's pretty incredible.

mark @ Oct 30th 2008 12:51PM

The life time sales of both Wii and DS are both incredible if you consider

1) for how long they've been out
2) that PS2 has sold 90 million in 6 years (wii has been out for 1 year and 10 months and has 34.5 million sales already but DS after 3 years sold 84M already !!!)
3) The other 2 competitors have more processing and graphics power

The sales of software is much more impressive.

It only means the machines are fun... and it is not because they are aiming for mainstream... the hardcore gamers will not do without a wii either.

The price of the machines, the games and the innovations they offer, (and at that price) were certainly welcomed by the market.

Oh my I'm sounding like a Nintendo fanboy... 360 FOREVER!!! (hope that compensates)

Lazaro @ Oct 30th 2008 11:36AM

Why combine the Game Boy Advance's sales with the Game Boy Color?

WRE @ Oct 30th 2008 11:38AM

Not Gameboy Advance, original Gameboy.

Lazaro @ Oct 30th 2008 11:51AM

Oops, that's what I meant.

Dante G @ Oct 30th 2008 12:08PM

Cause gb and gbc could play the same games. just like gba, gba sp and micro.

bm @ Oct 30th 2008 3:36PM

Dante: Uhh...no. The GBC was backwards compatible with the GB. And there were a few GB games that had more colors on the GBC. But actual Game Boy Color games that used the system's improved capabilities couldn't be played on the Game Boy.

Dante G @ Oct 30th 2008 5:31PM

My bad. I didn't know there were gbc only games. Then I think Lazaro is right, why would they combine gb and gbc sales to make up a record?

Tango Charlie @ Oct 30th 2008 11:59AM

Life is like a hurricane, here in Duckburg.

Zertoss @ Oct 30th 2008 12:03PM

Race cars, lasers, airplanes, it's a duck blur.

Markez @ Oct 30th 2008 3:21PM

Man, I really hope the bring Ducktales to VC, that was a surprisingly great game on the NES. I remember back in grade school I use to have musselman's applesauce cups that had different Ducktales characters on them; Dufus comes to mind.

EGADS!

Kye - Capcom DF @ Oct 30th 2008 12:26PM

might solve a mystery, or rewrite history

xFenixKnightx @ Oct 30th 2008 12:31PM

CCCCCOOOOMBO BREAKER!!!

jk

Ducktales! A WOOOO!

JAWilliams @ Oct 30th 2008 1:17PM

I believe the "Knapsack on a stick" Mr. Grant refers to is commonly called a "bindle". For more information on advanced Hobo technology please refer to the informational guide by John Hodgman entitled "The Areas of My Expertise" or solicit your local chapter of Disheveled Railroad Hobos.