Nintendo Profit Falls 36% on Lack of Hit Games, Currency

[onebyone]

Nintendo Co. reported a 36 percent fall in third-quarter profit after a lack of hit game titles hurt holiday sales of its Wii U and 3DS hardware and the absence of currency windfalls that boosted the year earlier.

Net income fell to 29.1 billion yen ($241 million) in the three months to December, the Kyoto-based company reported Tuesday. That compares with the 23 billion yen average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Nintendo relies on software titles to drive demand for machines such as the 3DS handheld player and Wii U. The result comes as the company faces its biggest shakeup since the 1970s, with its first smartphone game Miitomo scheduled to debut next month while work is under way on a new console code-named NX.


“There were simply no hit titles on Wii U and 3DS at the year-end shopping season,” Tomoaki Kawasaki, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities Co., said prior to the earnings announcement. “There is a lot of attention on Miitomo in March and what it will say about the company’s strategy. Nintendo absolutely needs a new growth driver.”

Nintendo shares rose 33 percent last year, fueled by its Marchannouncement that the company was entering the smartphone game market and planned to develop titles for mobile devices made by other companies. The stock has gained 2.5 percent this year with the earnings released after the close of trade on Tuesday.

Forecasts Maintained
Nintendo stuck to a forecast for Wii U sales to be little changed this fiscal year at 3.4 million units even though hits like Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, which lets players design their own game levels, failed to ignite demand for the console.

Third-quarter unit sales for the Wii U fell 2.1 percent to 1.87 million, while sales of the 3DS fell 28 percent to 3.6 million units.


Nintendo maintained its full-year forecasts for operating profit of 50 billion yen on sales of 570 billion yen.

The Kyoto-based company has teamed with DeNA Co., operator of the Mobage network, to create games and operate new membership services that that may eventually -- though not immediately -- include applications based on Nintendo’s character lineup of plumbers, gorillas and princesses.

Miitomo Schedule
While Nintendo owns intellectual property including Mario and Zelda, Miitomo will be a free-to-play messaging-based application. The move represented a reversal of sorts for a company that had resisted jumping aboard the mobile gaming boom. The late Satoru Iwata’s strategy of selling software only for Nintendo devices came under pressure after a consumer shift to mobile gaming eroded demand for the Wii U and 3DS.

Nintendo’s tie-up with DeNA however had a bit of a bumpy start. In October, the company conceded that their jointly created mobile platform wouldn’t debut in 2015 as anticipated, raising doubts about its ability to compete in the fast-moving, competitive market for free-to-play games. Investors now don’texpect the company’s entry into smartphone games to contribute significantly to revenue for several years.

President Tatsumi Kimishima Tuesday said Miitomo will debut next month and the company will use its own intellectual property on a second mobile game. Nintendo is also considering virtual reality, although no specific plans have been developed yet, he said.

Miitomo will feature users’ avatars when communicating with other players and can also ask questions of their owners, including inquiring about their weekend plans.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-falls-36-as-lack-of-hits-hurts-holiday-sales

 

[That Guy]

The Wii U has been a complete failure, even if I love the system. Hopefully, NX will turn around Nintendo's fortunes.

 

[Jlaw]

Not surprising as you can only milk Mario for so long before someone say , "**** this recycle shit!" It just took a long time.

Mario kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart world, Mario kart this , Mario Kart that, etc...

 

[seven7seven]

Nintendo is going down the same road as Sega by not moving with the times. The Wii was a great idea when it first came out but the whole motion sensor thing is a fad and Nintendo not understanding what gamers really want from next-gen gaming. It also doesn't help that Nintendo keep releasing a multitude of different console updates across their portable and home consoles that confuse and irritate gamers, because they don't know what games they can play on what console. Remember Sega and their silly console add-ons, like the 32X and Mega CD?

Instead of releasing a proper next-gen console and relying on old franchises to draw gamers in, but offering nothing new, it's not surprising Nintendo are going downhill fast. Nintendo is a good example of the symptomatic problems facing Japanese tech companies today where they are relying on their brand name and not doing enough to innovate and being battered by foreign competitors on price and overall value.

 

[Ewok6102]

Nintendo is going down the same road as Sega by not moving with the times.

Sega was actually ahead of its time. Who does not remember Sega Dreamcast? The idea of playing with players around the world was a brilliant one, but internet was not widely available at the time. Not everyone has internet, even if they did, they were mostly on 56k. Had they come up with that idea post dial-up era, it would have been a major success (if coupled with right games).

Nintendo, despite putting a lot of emphasis on the designing of its hardwares, have always come out shy on specifications. They rely too much on gimmicks and recycling previous hit titles. They also limited themselves to creating games for kids. If they want to stay afloat, they must make more games for adults. They are the ones with money to spend, not the kids.

 

[Aepsilons]

I love both PS4 and XBOX1

Hi, hottie lady.....

#ilovebeinganerd #yousohotmsowenogawdyes #lol

 

[seven7seven]

Sega was actually ahead of its time. Who does not remember Sega Dreamcast? The idea of playing with players around the world was a brilliant one, but internet was not widely available at the time. Not everyone has internet, even if they did, they were mostly on 56k. Had they come up with that idea post dial-up era, it would have been a major success (if coupled with right games).

Nintendo, despite putting a lot of emphasis on the designing of its hardwares, have always come out shy on specifications. They rely too much on gimmicks and recycling previous hit titles. They also limited themselves to creating games for kids. If they want to stay afloat, they must make more games for adults. They are the ones with money to spend, not the kids.

Yeah, I remember having the Dreamcast. Think it's still stored at my Dad's place with a load of old games lol. Loved Shenmue and remember Resi Evil Code Veronica looking amazing on it, for the time.

Of course, not saying Sega and Nintendo made all mistakes because they were both very successful at times. However, like a lot of successful tech companies, they tried to stick to the things that brought them success in the past, ie Mario, Zelda, Sonic, etc. But most gamers outgrew these kind of games and now want more realism, better graphics, bigger open worlds and massive online multiplay capability. I don't think Sega and Nintendo ever got that.

I agree Nintendo focus too much on kiddies games and targeting kids with simple and cheap-to-make games that they try to fob off for near full price. However, the games market has moved on and mobile games on smartphones can offer better variety and very often better games than Nintendo offer for their portable DS consoles.

It would be a shame if Nintendo did go the way of Sega and have to pull out of the console market. But if they keep making costly mistakes, they may have no choice.

 

[Huan]

Oh you just need more Bayonetta-like themes. ^_^

 

[Aepsilons]

Oh you just need more Bayonetta-like themes. ^_^