Nintendo Posts Staggering Mid-Year Results

Kyoto-based game giant Nintendo reported its mid-year financial results today, posting a 132.5% increase in year-over-year sales to 694.8 billion yen ($6.072 billion) for the six months ending September 30. The vast majority of these sales came from sales of the increasingly popular Wii and still top-selling DS, with hardware sales taking in 452.7 billion yen ($3.957 billion) during the period. Most of the revenues, 77.9%, came from overseas sales in markets like the U.S. and Europe. Nintendo's profits showed even greater gains, rising to 132.4 billion yen ($1.157 billion), a 143.7% increase over the first half of the last fiscal year. Nintendo sold 7.33 million Wii consoles and 13.35 million DS units worldwide during the first half of the current fiscal year, bringing lifetime sales numbers for each console to 13.17 million and 53.64 million, respectively, and furthering Nintendo's reign over both the home console and handheld markets. Strong software sales of titles like Game Freak's Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl--which sold 6.95 million units during the period--padded the company's profits as well. The Brain Age series of DS games also continued to sell, a popular title among Nintendo's casual demographic, with the first two games in the DS series hitting 5.19 million units sold during the period. Nintendo has projected sales of 1.55 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) during the current fiscal year ending in March.