Success in the handheld space makes up for the new home console's woes.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/35055
Nintendo posted a net profit of 8.62 billion yen ($87.8 million/£57.7 million) for the second quarter of 2013 thanks to flourishing 3DS sales, in spite of the Wii U's continued struggles on the market.
According to the most recent financial report, the increased profitability of the 3DS coupled with the depreciation of the yen helped the publishing giant to record these results, allaying the negative impact of the Wii U's poor performance.
From April 1 to June 31, the Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL combined sold 1.4 million units worldwide, a 12% increase over sales during the same period last year. This brings lifetime-to-date sales for the handheld up to 32.48 million.
The most successful software was Animal Crossing New Leaf, which sold 1.54 million copies during this period, while Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and the Japan-exclusive Tomodachi Collection also had strong quarters, with 1.43 million and 1.39 million copies sold, respectively. Overall, more than 11 million sales in 3DS software were recorded, a 10% improvement year-on-year.
The Wii U did not fare nearly as well in Q2. It pushed a meagre 160,000 systems, leaving its overall worldwide sales at just 3.61 million. In their report, Nintendo attributed these low figures to the small quantity of key first-party titles released, with only Game & Wario and New Super Luigi U launching during this time.
The publisher has stated that it plans to regain sales momentum for the console before the end of the year with the strategic release of games such as Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Wii Party U.
The Wii U has one of the strongest holiday lineups in Nintendo history this Fall.
*spit take*
What?
I'm getting as tired of the 3DS comparisons as some are the Doom & Gloom. The 3DS didn't have strong competition like the Wii U does and the 3DS did get a huge price drop that the Wii U has not. The Wii U is also facing 2 superior platforms releasing this Christmas along with the current-generation competition it already can't handle in the PS4 and Xbone. The 3DS didn't have that. The comparison between the 2 is so weak it's not even worth making.
Once again, you need to realize that your opinion doesn't represent the general population. You honestly think games like Killzone and Infamous are going to steal away the people who want the newest Mario and Donkey Kong? The only game that was being released on the One/PS4 this Fall that could have actually hurt Nintendo was Kinect Sports Rivals for the One, but that was delayed until 2014.
The people who want the newest Mario & Donkey Kong already own a Wii U.
The audience who bought those games is gone now, and Nintendo's not going to get then back. They jumped when the Kinect and IPS markets surged. You'd have to go back to GameCube numbers for a true indication of those games' potential.
The people who want the newest Mario & Donkey Kong already own a Wii U.
Oh so the 8 million people who bought Mario 3D Land, have already bought a Wii U for 3D World, even though their currently isn't even 8 million Wii U's sold? Or the 5 million people who bought Donkey Kong Country Returns have already bought a Wii U for Tropical Freeze, even though 5 million Wii U's haven't been sold either? Not to mention both games were announced at E3 which isn't even two months old yet, and something most kids and parents have no idea even exist.
Seriously, take a basic marketing class because statements like this just prove you have no fucking idea how brands and marketing actually work.
The audience who bought those games is gone now, and Nintendo's not going to get then back. They jumped when the Kinect and IPS markets surged. You'd have to go back to GameCube numbers for a true indication of those games' potential.As for Kinect, the only Kinect game that has sold over one million copies is the game that it was bundled with (Kinect Adventures), so Kinect games aren't popular even if the device is.
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#1 thing would be to stop getting Gimped/Super Late Versions of games.
Last quarter was April, May and June. The only Wii U game released in that time was a crappy Wario Ware spinoff at the very end of June. In comparison this Fall has a main Sonic, Donkey Kong, Mario & Sonic, 3D Mario, Wii Party, and Wii Fit. Also Nintendo hardware always gets a huge increase during the holiday season.
Once again this is just like the original DS and 3DS. Both systems sold like **** at first because of lack of games, but when the major titles started coming out sales increased. Hell, for the 3DS, Mario 3D Land and Mario 3D Kart alone carried the system during the 2011 holiday in the West into the first half of 2012. The Wii U has one of the strongest holiday lineups in Nintendo history this Fall and has Mario Kart 8 coming out in the first half of 2014.
The 3DS is currently showing that Nintendo software is still very popular. Once the Wii U starts getting the games it'll be just fine as well.
The 3DS/DS NEVER sold this bad.
So it doesn't matter if the Wii U sales are lower then any previous Nintendo system right now because the system has no current major titles and is too expensive. Once the games come out this Fall, and the price is hopefully cut the sales will finally increase. I don't know why this is so hard for some of you to understand? Now if the Wii U is still selling this bad next year then yes, the system will be fucked because it means Nintendo's big titles had no effect. But right now, it's way too early to say the system is doomed when several of their biggest franchises have yet to be released and were huge hits on their previous console and currently huge on the 3DS as well.
