Nintendo magic wand weaves spell

By Yuri Kageyama  |   2008-7-31  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

NINTENDO Co's profit for the fiscal first quarter has surged 34 percent from a year ago as sales of its hit Wii shot up, underlining the success of the wand-wielding video game console in attracting novice players.

The Japanese maker of Super Mario and Pokemon video games reported yesterday a 107.27-billion-yen (US$996 million) profit for April-June, up from 80.25 billion yen from the same period in 2007.

The big factor behind the stellar performance was the Wii and its game software, including the "Wii Fit," which has drawn the health-conscious to simple exercises like yoga and aerobics.

Nintendo sold 5.2 million Wii machines worldwide during the quarter ?? 1.7 million more machines than for the same period last year. It also sold during the quarter 3.42 million "Wii Fit" games and 6.42 million "Mario Kart Wii" games.

Quarterly sales surged 24 percent to 423.38 billion yen, according to Nintendo, based in Kyoto.

Nintendo has sold a cumulative 29.6 million Wii machines worldwide since its arrival in late 2006.

The Wii has scored success against the PlayStation 3 from Japanese rival Sony Corp, which went on sale about the same time. At the latest count, worldwide PS3 sales lagged at under half of the Wii at 14.4 million.

On Tuesday, Sony said its April-June profit plunged to 34.98 billion yen - about half that recorded a year ago - as a strong yen, the absence of "Spider-Man 3" revenue and faltering cell-phone operations battered earnings.

Nintendo shrugged off an estimated 26.3-billion-yen erosion in its quarterly sales from a strengthening yen, which gained about 15 percent against the United States dollar from last year. Solid Wii sales were enough to offset the losses from an unfavorable exchange rate, Nintendo said.

Nintendo is planning to sell 25 million Wii consoles and 28 million DS machines for the fiscal year through March 2009.