Nintendo Loses Half A Billion Bucks

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Godmachine

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http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2012/04/26/nintendo-loses-half-a-billion-bucks/

There are two different figures in media reports, both technically accurate. The company’s operating income, which is effectively its profit or loss from doing business, was minus 37.3 billion yen (US$460 million.) Its net income, which takes into effect interest payments, taxes and miscellaneous transactions not connected to the core business (such as buying or selling property) was minus 43.2 billion yen (US$533 million.)

The loss, the worst for three decades, was actually lower than the company had expected. It was a drop in revenue rather than cost increases that caused the problem, with major factors including:

A strong yen on the currency market making prices outside of Japan comparatively more expensive.
A major price cut to the 3DS (which looks to have taken it below cost price) to compete with other devices.
An overall drop in sales of the DS range from 21.1 million to 18.6 million.
A major drop in Wii sales from 15.1 million to 9.8 million.
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Damn , Nintendo is under the gun. Far cry from only a few years ago. Can't imagine what kind of pressure they are feeling to make the Wii-U a huge success.
 
They are like sitting on HUGE cash reserves so I am not too converned about this. They will turn it around.....Gotta factor in that the big N carries very little debt....
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
They are like sitting on HUGE cash reserves so I am not too converned about this. They will turn it around.....Gotta factor in that the big N carries very little debt....
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What cash reserves? Any links showing this?

If the Wii-U doesn't excel like they want then those reserves might start running a bit dry.
 
I thought the DS / Wii printed them money.. how are they that much in the gutter? I thought they would have a huge cash reserve
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
They are like sitting on HUGE cash reserves so I am not too converned about this. They will turn it around.....Gotta factor in that the big N carries very little debt....
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I dont care how much cash you sit on. Half a bil loss is ridiculously telling. Nintendo sat on their asses way too long. Plus, they are showing they just don't get it and are out of touch. Their competitors caught up. Their bread and butter NDS and handhelds in general are in a time of change, and the Wii-U is pretty much going to be DOA on the market unless something massively impressive shows up over the next year. All of this is speculation of course, but there are massive reasons to be concerned about Nintendo.
 
A brief search indicates that both Sony and Microsoft's gaming divisions also incurred rather large operating losses. "Traditional" gaming (PC and consoles) business is down. Overall industry growth is due to growth in other areas (such as microtransaction based gaming, casual games on other devices, web based, etc).

Godmachine said:
What cash reserves? Any links showing this?

If the Wii-U doesn't excel like they want then those reserves might start running a bit dry.
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Quick search indicates 10 billion USD.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/315046/nintendo-should-expand-to-mobiles-analysts/
 
But Sony and Microsoft are not just "video game company's" they are electronics and or software development first , video games second.

Microsoft can absorb much more of a hit like a $500 Million loss than say Nintendo. Hell Sony has lost Billions recently and yet it's going to keep going forward.

Its hard to compare Nintendo to either of its competitors when both are much more branched out than just the video games industry and can take much more abuse.
 
Nintendo is done...the portable gaming sector is now dominated by iPads and other tablets. The Wii doesn't appeal to anybody but very casual gamers...which is a huge market...but they don't buy games nearly as often as they should to keep the ship afloat.
 
They just did R & D on their latest console without selling any yet. It's not surprising at all that they they are losing money right now. As soon as they start selling millions upon millions of Wii Us they will be golden again. The lure of the newest Mario in HD will draw tons of people I'm sure.
 
refraxion said:
I thought the DS / Wii printed them money.. how are they that much in the gutter? I thought they would have a huge cash reserve
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That's not what the OP or the article said. Nintendo incurred a loss of about half a billion. As limitedaccess posted, it appears N has about 10 billion.

This is interesting bc N doesn't generally lose money. As was already mentioned tho, their mobile division is losing out to other formats such as iphone/ipad, sales of Wii are down, they are just finishing up Wii U developement, and the industry as a whole is down.
 
Nintendo has so much cash, they can have the same loss for 10 years before sinking. Unheard of in the gaming industry. Amazing what working outside of debt can do...
Btw, 3DS is fine. 14 million sold as of right now, and they shouldn't be selling at a loss after aug/sept. In fact that is prolly their only saving grace. I think they are being overly optimistic on their Wii-U estimates...
 
Personally I hope the Wii-U bombs, that way hopefully Nintendo will wise up and go back to making state of the art consoles with traditional controls while getting rid of their "casual" gamer crap.
 
Doesn't surprise me - Wii has practically been dead outside of a small handful of releases in the past year. 3DS still picking up momentum and should have a really killer holiday with NSMB2 coming out (among other first party titles).

If they can supply some fantastic software for the Wii U launch and avoid what happened with the 3DS, I think they'll be fine.
 
I read that. Frankly I haven't been happy with the direction the companies been going. I have cerebral palsy which makes the wiimote/nunchucks unusable to me. Taking away from of the value of the Wii gimmick. I ran into the same issue with the stylus on the DS and could give a flying fuck out 3D on a 3 inch screen. yahtzee just did a article on the new Icarus game apparently its so difficult to manage the controls it comes with a mount for your DS.

I just wish Nintendo would stop with this stupid shit and focus on games. They pulled the same shit with the Nintendo 64 another console more or less lost on me. They did such a great job the gamecube then they go back to the down syndrome board for the Wii. Drives me nuts.

I'm sure the new Wii-U or whatever the fuck it is will need you to attach a controller to your foot or some other nonsense.
 
piscian18 said:
I read that. Frankly I haven't been happy with the direction the companies been going. I have cerebral palsy which makes the wiimote/nunchucks unusable to me. Taking away from of the value of the Wii gimmick. I ran into the same issue with the stylus on the DS and could give a flying fuck out 3D on a 3 inch screen. yahtzee just did a article on the new Icarus game apparently its so difficult to manage the controls it comes with a mount for your DS.

I just wish Nintendo would stop with this stupid shit and focus on games. They pulled the same shit with the Nintendo 64 another console more or less lost on me. They did such a great job the gamecube then they go back to the down syndrome board for the Wii. Drives me nuts.

I'm sure the new Wii-U or whatever the fuck it is will need you to attach a controller to your foot or some other nonsense.
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This is kinda how I feel. I feel these motion controllers are while interesting , don't speak to the core gaming group at all that's been with Nintendo for so long. I think the entire entertainment industry needs to get the fuck over its obsession with "3D" , its annoying as shit how often its being shoved down our throats despite our objection. The "casual" gaming group that Nintendo has turned into profit over the past 6 years doesn't have the attention span or loyalty that its core does and shows countless times with each new console iteration.

The Wii-U is at least trying something different with a controller design that mimics the Dreamcast VMU of times gone past. But there have been reports Nintendo is slashing its original console specs for cheaper hardware so they can take less of a loss up front. I think the last thing they need to be doing is going with cheaper less powerful hardware at this stage.
 
Wii U will definately be on my list to buy.....it is a nice family oriented system and will provide countless hours of good clean fun just like the Wii does...

ComputerBox34 said:
Nintendo is done...the portable gaming sector is now dominated by iPads and other tablets. The Wii doesn't appeal to anybody but very casual gamers...which is a huge market...but they don't buy games nearly as often as they should to keep the ship afloat.
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Where do you come up with such idiotic statements?

GNC made them a profit, Gamboy adance made them a HUGE profit. Wii made them an astomonical profit with at least 100Million sold......Nintendo just needs to get their online experience tidied up and they will be golden.

Azureth said:
Personally I hope the Wii-U bombs, that way hopefully Nintendo will wise up and go back to making state of the art consoles with traditional controls while getting rid of their "casual" gamer crap.
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State of the Art is not where it is at (Sony and MS anyone?) providing great gameplay experience is where it is at...
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
Wii U will definately be on my list to buy.....it is a nice family oriented system and will provide countless hours of good clean fun just like the Wii does
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I wish i could say the same. Except my 4 year old doesnt ever touch the wii. She only wants to play Kinect dance/kinectimal games, and on the PS3, Eyepet. There is literally NOTHING on the wii she ever wants to go with.
So i see no reason why the Wii-U should be any different when Sony and MS have effectively caught up to the 'tricks' the Wii had.

I would love to say i'd buy a Wii-U for the sake of having to have every new tech out there when it comes to consoles, but the Wii-U is going to be so far behind by 2013 that i just dont see any positive to it. Period. And based on posts 4-5 years ago, i cant believe you are still drinking that Nintendo kool-aid tbh.
 
4saken said:
I wish i could say the same. Except my 4 year old doesnt ever touch the wii. She only wants to play Kinect dance/kinectimal games, and on the PS3, Eyepet. There is literally NOTHING on the wii she ever wants to go with.
So i see no reason why the Wii-U should be any different when Sony and MS have effectively caught up to the 'tricks' the Wii had.

I would love to say i'd buy a Wii-U for the sake of having to have every new tech out there when it comes to consoles, but the Wii-U is going to be so far behind by 2013 that i just dont see any positive to it. Period. And based on posts 4-5 years ago, i cant believe you are still drinking that Nintendo kool-aid tbh.
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lawl at the koolaide comment....you can come back to reality any time you want....
 
Aside from R&D costs on the Wii-U the big money loser for Nintendo right now is the 3DS. The price drop hurt them, badly. Right now they are losing money on every system sold and software sales simply aren't making up for the losses. Might be because there is a serious drought of good games for the thing even the DS was kicking starting to kick out a little stable of worthy games by this point.
 
piscian18 said:
I read that. Frankly I haven't been happy with the direction the companies been going. I have cerebral palsy which makes the wiimote/nunchucks unusable to me. Taking away from of the value of the Wii gimmick. I ran into the same issue with the stylus on the DS and could give a flying fuck out 3D on a 3 inch screen. yahtzee just did a article on the new Icarus game apparently its so difficult to manage the controls it comes with a mount for your DS.

I just wish Nintendo would stop with this stupid shit and focus on games. They pulled the same shit with the Nintendo 64 another console more or less lost on me. They did such a great job the gamecube then they go back to the down syndrome board for the Wii. Drives me nuts.

I'm sure the new Wii-U or whatever the fuck it is will need you to attach a controller to your foot or some other nonsense.
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Im sorry to hear about the CP. But yeah, nintendo pissed alot of their hardcore audience off with the casual attitude of the wii. Most were hurt already supporting the Gamecube, and the wii was the last straw. It really started with the Gamecube though. It was a very plain system, nothing special aobut it other then the price and size. Nintendo has always been about new ways to game. The N64 was really an amazing system that helped transform games today. We owe much to it. The only thing that hurt that system was being cartridge based. Mario 64 level design and gameplay still hold up today with the only glaring fault is the camera system. It was one of the first games to get the camera right, but by todays standard feels soo broken.
 
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i have enjoyed playing wii, but only when using a gamecube controller. trying to point one of those fucking things at the screen to shoot someone was the most frustrating thing ive ever done in a game, especially when every now and then it would glitch and start shooting the cursor back and forth across the screen nonstop. ugh what a terrible gimmick.

n64 was an amazing console, gamecube solid but nothing special. the difference between wii and those two is that people were playing them right up until the next one came out. sure everyone bought the wii when it came out, but no one has played theirs in a year or 2 now. thats not a good sign in the console industry where the big money is made not on the hardware but on the software and software licensing.
 
Nintendo has always been losing ground to its competitors since Sega Genesis days and it just continues. Its great to innovate but then your competitors just copy and steal your thunder.

Lets face it. Since the SNES days they have punished there 3rd party developers generation after generation and thats why we see less support for potential of great games. Around the time of the Wii they finally started to get that they can't build a house all on there own.

Also all of you with the rose tinted glasses about the N64 need to quit. The PS1 was better at the time. Even now I still play PS1 games daily over the horrible looking N64 and at the time over priced N64 games. I loved the days of going to the store and seeing $20-30 dollar premium of a N64 due to the cartridge and yet only a 1/4 the storage!!

The Wii and NDS were good systems. They actually brought me back to consoles after a 5 year hiatus. They aren't focusing on those systems anymore and it shows in sales now.

State of the art?!?! My arse
 
Zohar78 said:
Im sorry to hear about the CP. But yeah, nintendo pissed alot of their hardcore audience off with the casual attitude of the wii. Most were hurt already supporting the Gamecube, and the wii was the last straw. It really started with the Gamecube though. It was a very plain system, nothing special aobut it other then the price and size. Nintendo has always been about new ways to game. The N64 was really an amazing system that helped transform games today. We owe much to it. The only thing that hurt that system was being cartridge based. Mario 64 level design and gameplay still hold up today with the only glaring fault is the camera system. It was one of the first games to get the camera right, but by todays standard feels soo broken.
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Preordered a gamecube before release for $220. Only games I wanted were pushed back had to wait months for eternal darkness and years for resident evil.

On the n64 I literally couldn't even hold the controller. Eventually I found a 3rd party controller that looked like a precursor to the gamecube controller. difficult to find now but emu solved all that. I can't see myself buying another Nintendo console. I can't find more than 2 or 3 games I'd want to play
 
I have a disability called Arthrogryposis, and I can use the Wiimote sort of it's hard and certain games like Z SWS are impossible for me to play.
 
Meanwhile people without disabilities and dont surf forums continue to buy Wii's......

Love the n64 was better, no GC was better comments... you guys...
Wii-U is going to be successful, just like 3DS (Uhh 14 MILLION sold now), whether you guys like it or not. Which is really special, why would you even feel this way is mind boggling. They make toys that people enjoy, so because you FEEL its not for you they shouldn't exist.... absurd.

Market is full of choices anyway. Lets say you lose a choice, one will definitely take its place. (Apple would probably do something, or maybe Valve, who knows.) The Wii is selling close to 100 Million because its created diversity in the video game world. The next consoles must be different enough to distinguish themselves, or else they will not sell. This is the new modern gaming market. Its not about power anymore, its about what makes your console different from the other one, and why you should buy it.

You wont ever see constant traditional consoles from one company anymore. They must all innovate and differentiate themselves, or risk selling 20 Millions consoles (like xbox vs GC vs PS2), because theres not enough difference to make them stand out against the competition. This is the future. Deal with it. Thankfully theres enough choice out there for everyone.
 
consolesales.jpg


xbox sales have risen, ps3 sales have stayed even, and wii sales have fallen greatly over the last 3 years. wii sales are now below both xbox and ps3, for a cheaper and "more accessible" console. its clear that once the novelty wore off and everyone had played a wii, fewer people want one now. wii U need to not only have some sort of gimmick to make it sell at its debut, but more importantly a solid, enjoyable user experience and a good library of games. thats why xbox is doing extraordiarily well 7 years after launch.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Nintendo is done...the portable gaming sector is now dominated by iPads and other tablets. The Wii doesn't appeal to anybody but very casual gamers...which is a huge market...but they don't buy games nearly as often as they should to keep the ship afloat.
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Iv been reading the same bullshit from forum idiots for the past 12 years. Its still funny
 
Grrag275 said:
Iv been reading the same bullshit from forum idiots for the past 12 years. Its still funny
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Despite the reputing nature of his post , there is some sense. Nintendo didn't really have a true competitor to portable gaming until the iPhone and iPad came along.

Not taking Apple seriously as a competitor will result in Nintendo falling hard to the ground which is reality. Everyone around the world loves the iPhone and the iPad even if hardcore gamers scoff at its relation to beloved portable consoles.

Nintendo has to realize that its real competitor can offer games at a much cheaper cost and it can offer better graphics than the 3DS is able to produce and its also a true multi-media device. 3D was still a dumb idea to bank on , if you own a 3D and use full 3D all the time then you are rare of example of it "working" out.

Nintendo should branch out and consider allowing its first party characters on other platforms for real. Nintendo has the strongest first party line up out of anyone and could easily develop for other companies hardware solutions which would save them a ton of money.

$10 Billion dollars may seem like a lot of cash to have in the bank. But guess what Apple has laying around? $550 Billion ... more money than the US National Treasury can currently issue without a Fed backed loan. Even under the best circumstances , Nintendo has a lot to prove all over again and still convince everyone that they should buy a new $249 (minimal) console either this fall or next year.
 
I think nintendo might be in trouble. They took a risk with the WII and it paid off big, but now it might bite them in the butt.

With the Wii nintendo for a lot of people stopped being a serious game company. I think alot of people no longer view nintndo as serious gaming, and that's were the risk lies, because if the people who bought the wii, many of whom were not gamers, choose not to buy the wii u, and many of gamers choose not to buy the wii u because they dont considered it a gamer's system, then nintendo is in for a world of hurt.

They made the decison to gain massive short term gains by positioning the wii as a casual system, now they are paying the price, now we will see how steep the price will be.
 
I could imagine Nintendo going the same route as Sega.

I kinda hope they do...I'd love Mario games on my iPad.
 
I am surprised that no one has mentioned how rampant piracy/console hacking is with the DS and Wii. I don't know anyone that owns a Wii that hasn't hacked it.

I personally bought a Wii, played it for less than a month and sold it. IMO, it is a terrible gaming system.
 
kcthebrewer said:
I am surprised that no one has mentioned how rampant piracy/console hacking is with the DS and Wii. I don't know anyone that owns a Wii that hasn't hacked it.

I personally bought a Wii, played it for less than a month and sold it. IMO, it is a terrible gaming system.
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Nintendo decided for the first time to go with a format that was Universal and it bit them on the ass (Wii DVD). Nintendo's portable consoles have been pirated since just about forever , they keep touting that this new so and so portable console with have technology to prevent it but that doesn't do jack shit to stop it. PSP was also incredibly pirated , so much so that it actually had a strong impact in sales when piracy often doesn't do despite what the MPAA would have us believe. The PS2 was also heavily pirated and is still is.

Piracy is part of the business. In fact console games often get released days before PC versions due now because its so much easier to do so with a hacked console versus a PC. This is a universal problem for console manufacturers , not a scapegoat for Nintendo to use to explain poor console sales.

I don't think the Wii is terrible , I bought one and held on to it for years and gave it away to my niece. In the end I felt that Nintendo didn't want to bother catering it towards the long term gamer like me but instead they squarely aimed their sites at the Casual market.
 
RogueTrip said:
Also all of you with the rose tinted glasses about the N64 need to quit. The PS1 was better at the time. Even now I still play PS1 games daily over the horrible looking N64 and at the time over priced N64 games. I loved the days of going to the store and seeing $20-30 dollar premium of a N64 due to the cartridge and yet only a 1/4 the storage!!
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Hey bud, you may seriously want to check in the mirror for your own pair of rose colored glasses. :)

Yes the ps1 was a great console, but the only 2 things it did better than n64 was Audio (being cd based), cd based storage. It was a visible weaker 3d console, though sony did wonders showing it off. I believe i actually played my ps1 more than my n64 due to how i took advantage of each system. The n64 was used more for multiplayer. The n64 had some great 4 player games since that was one of the things it was designed around. I ended up playing the ps1 when by myself. When i look back i was more impressed with the ps1, but that's because it came out first and wipeout 1 just blew me away!
 
Derangel said:
Aside from R&D costs on the Wii-U the big money loser for Nintendo right now is the 3DS. The price drop hurt them, badly. Right now they are losing money on every system sold and software sales simply aren't making up for the losses. Might be because there is a serious drought of good games for the thing even the DS was kicking starting to kick out a little stable of worthy games by this point.
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It was vastly over priced compared to the previous generation and THAT is what hurt them. I never did care for the the DS and I am at an age now where gaming just isn't what it used to be.
 
Every time a new console from Nintendo is about to be released, I hear the same stories.

"Nintendo is done."

It's rather amusing to say the least. Granted I don't think I'll be buying the Wii-U personally (I do have a Wii in the house, but I never play it) simply because console gaming is dead to me, much less the gimmicky casual approach Nintendo has taken. Nintendo is far from done. Especially with their appeal to the younger generations, year after year. The only reason why the Wii has probably slowed in sales is because everyone who can afford one probably already has one or had one at one time.

If they were to ever focus on Adults gaming, rather than Kids gaming; I might be interested simply because I grew up with Nintendo characters my whole life. Playing them like I played the NES, SNES, N64 and GCN would most definitely be up my alley. Especially if they make the online experience more like the others but more so like the PC.
 
I love how people chant "iPad this iPad that". The iPad is 500 friggin dollars. No parent in their right mind is going to give their child a damned iPad. Hell, *I* don't have a damn iPad, the price is absurd. Those of you claiming "Nintendo is doomed" are clueless. Sony will bow out first, rest assured.

Nintendo: 122 years and still going. Wake up.
 
Hopefully this is a wake up call for Nintendo and they will actually make a kickass console this time around.
 
DJ Big T said:
Hopefully this is a wake up call for Nintendo and they will actually make a kickass console this time around.
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Nintendo will not field a console over $300. Nintendo will have a less powerful console because they won't sell at a loss, but then they don't lose 6 Billion dollars in a year like Sony. People buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. This has always paid off. One yearly loss *ever* is rather meaningless in the big picture. These are things a lot of people don't understand about Nintendo, it is run by very old, very shrewd businessmen. Sure, the occasional mistake is made (VirtualBoy), but all in all most companies would kill for Nintendo's profit rich history.

If I actually cared more I'd calculate out total profits for the Wii generation vs this one yearly loss and make every doomsayer look stupid, but I don't feel like putting the effort in.

122 years folks.
 
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