Despite reporting significant losses last year, Nintendo seem to be on the up-and-up after reports from EuroGamer indicate that the company have earned over 170 billion Yen (around $1.6 billion US) in revenue over the past six months. This is in spite of the fact that they are reporting total losses to the tune of 215 million Yen. But compared to last year’s much more hefty loss of 23 billion Yen, it’s a marked improvement.
Nintendo attribute the release of Mario Kart 8 in May as a significant factor in helping the video game’s giant shift over 610,000 Wii U consoles worldwide between July and September of this year. It may not sound like a lot, but it’s double the hardware sales from last year and it pushes the total number of units sold to 7.29 million. They also predict that sales will only continue to grow this Christmas period with the upcoming release of Smash Bros Wii U.
However, sales are still a long way off from the company’s forecast, falling short by a third of its predicted figure of 3.6 million units sold. Nintendo’s 3DS console is also not doing particularly well, with figures showing the handheld device is down from 2.49 million to 1.27 million units sold since last year.
Hopefully the 3DS will see massive improvements before the end of the year with Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire readying to be released just in time for the festive period. Not to mention, Japan and Australia will soon be seeing the New 3DS and New 3DS XL hitting the markets, which could potentially help Nintendo’s sales as well.