Nintendo Financial Overview – Theme Park Partnership & Profits Announced

After going through some harrowing losses the past few years, Nintendo has finally managed to turn a profit. The exact number for the profits is reported to an impressive 41bn Yen (£226m), compared to the 23bn (£126m) loss last year, managing to make up to quite an extent.

In other financial stats, Nintendo managed to shift a total of 9 million 3DS units over the period of the last 12 months, a figure which also takes into account the sales of both 2DS and New 3DS models. The total lifetime sale for the 3DS systems thus far stands at 52 million units, which is a bit disappointing when compared with DS’ lifetime number of 154 million units, managing to fall “below Nintendo’s expectations“. However, Nintendo did note that the new handheld units showed a particularly promising start thus far, maintaining its progressive sales.

Things weren’t any more hopeful with the Wii U, whose lifetime sale now stands at 9.54 million, of which – managing to shift only 3.6 million units in the entirety of last year, barely beating half the Gamecube’s lifetime sales mark.

On the software front, 3DS Pokémon remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire together sold 9.94m units. furthermore, Super Smash Brothers managed to beat the Wii U sales with the 3DS version, which currently stands at an impressive 6.75 million, compared to Wii U’s 3.75 million. Lastly, Mario Kart 8 has now sold 5.11m copies since its launch last year, with Nintendo mentioning that both Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8 will continue to receive support for this fiscal year.

The only heavy hitters worth mentioning for Nintendo this year are, Splatoon, Yoshi’s Woolly World and Mario Maker on the Wii U, and the next Fire Emblem game on the 3DS. Titles mentioned are all expected to be good performers when the release this year.

On the Amiibo front, Nintendo is still struggling with basic Supply and Demand, managing to sell out within mere hours upon stock replenishment. Figures for it were not available, but the success rate is anyone’s guess. This year, Card and Yarn based Amiibo’s will be introduced to the market, as well as the long-awaited NFC reader for 3DS and 2DS.

In more pressing news, Nintendo has announced its current partnership with Universal Parks & Resorts, which will give way to the world of Nintendo at popular Universal theme parks. They hope to bring the rich world of Nintendo’s characters and world to life.

This is quite a major reveal for Nintendo, hinting at how open Nintendo is getting with its intellectual property, in order to expand its user/fan base popularity. The best thing is that this makes a lot of sense, and would be a major draw for a lot of families, majority of whom grew up playing many Nintendo titles over the years. It will also push Nintendo’s image with today’s youngsters, hopefully enough to influence a move in its entertainment units.