From IndustryGamers:
As evidenced by NPD data in recent months, Wii sales are no longer flying high. Today, Nintendo released its fiscal results for the company’s first quarter ended on June 30, and sales of the Wii were down more than half from 5.17 million to 2.23 million. Overall, net income for the quarter fell 60.6 percent […] while sales slipped 40.1 percent to ¥253.5 billion.
Those looking for Nintendo to stumble (Sony, Microsoft) may have found the Japanese giant do just that in the past twenty-four hours.
The heavy blow to income and profit is due to general weakness in the market and the dollar-to-yen exchange rate, and the fact that the first half of 2008 saw three blockbuster titles while this year has seen none.
Remember when a lot of people were imploring Nintendo not to rely on the quirky controls and instead focus on creating great games. Well, Nintendo, you see why that’s important.
Wii Sports Resort came out last week and looks to be the first big Nintendo Wii game of note for 2009, and the rest of the year sees the launch of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit Plus, so things are expected to match earlier forecasts for the entirety of 2009, but Nintendo needs to come through in a big way to prove they re not just a flash in the pan.
