Nintendo News: 3DS and Yen to Blame for Nintendo's Losses Page 1 at Nintendo Cubed3

Nintendo are dabbling with numbers today as the House of Mario adjusted forecast figures due to weak 3DS sales.

Despite growing 3DS sales, the results have not met the internal expectations so far and together with the weakening Yen, has revealed a loss of 27.9 billion yen / £219m - a smaller loss compared to the same period last year, however.

This time last year Nintendo had reported a loss of 70.2 billion Yen.

The new 3DS XL hardware has performed well in both Japan and overseas, growing month on month, but have still fallen short of what Nintendo were hoping. However, with the console providing profit with each unit sold now, things have started to improve for the Japanese game-maker despite losses.

22 Million 3DS consoles and a staggering 64.45 million 3DS games have been sold so far.

At the beginning of April Nintendo projected a 20 Billion Yen profit forecast, however this has dropped by a significant 70% in the company's revised projection of just 6 Billion Yen.

Share this article

About Jorge Ba-oh

Comment on this article

Comments on this Article

«s previous1next »

God on 24.10.2012 at 14:56#1

This always happens to me as well. I should just stop projecting profits and accept my monthly salary I guess

You are not alone. I am here with you. Though we're far apart...you're always in my heart. Love u!

Darkflame on 24.10.2012 at 16:40#2

Its selling better then the original DS at this time in its life still isnt it?

Why on earth did Nintendo think it would do better then the original did :?

Please give our little random review show a try;
http://randomreviewshow.com/index.html
We have special effects and umm...stuff...

Flynnie on 24.10.2012 at 21:32#3

Darkflame said:
Its selling better then the original DS at this time in its life still isnt it?
Why on earth did Nintendo think it would do better then the original did :?

Because they didn't expect the DS to do as well as it did! The benchmark was set and thats what the investors want to hear.

Nintendo were wary of the PSP at the time, however they probably didn't see the PS Vita as much of a threat. Indeed its the rise of the smartphone and free gaming that has probably dented sales a little.

The 3DS is the first Nintendo console/handheld i haven't owned (accept the Virtual Boy) and my main reason is that i bare the 3D element, it hurts my eyes. I wonder if this is the case for anyone else...??

SirLink on 24.10.2012 at 21:38#4

Flynnie said:
The 3DS is the first Nintendo console/handheld i haven't owned (accept the Virtual Boy) and my main reason is that i bare the 3D element, it hurts my eyes. I wonder if this is the case for anyone else...??

If that's your main reason and there are games you want to play on the system, why not just keep the 3D turned off?

Flynnie on 24.10.2012 at 22:06#5

SirLink said:
Flynnie said:
The 3DS is the first Nintendo console/handheld i haven't owned (accept the Virtual Boy) and my main reason is that i bare the 3D element, it hurts my eyes. I wonder if this is the case for anyone else...??
If that's your main reason and there are games you want to play on the system, why not just keep the 3D turned off?

I feel like i'd be missing out on the whole concept of it if i did that and I still have a major backlog of DS games to play so i can't justify it!

There aren't many 3DS games though, Starfox 64, Ocarina of Time, Mario Tennis, Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros and Resident Evil...not sure there is anything else i'd want to play. Looking at that list i might as well get my 64 out and put "simulated 3D" mode on my TV!

Darkflame on 25.10.2012 at 03:06#6

Get or dont get a system for its games - not a feature that you may or may not use. Smilie

I bought a 3DS as a replacement for my old DSo , no retail games - yet I love all the freebies it came with and have been enjoying the demos no end.
Re:R, Crush, and Heroes of RUIN would be very much on my get list as the demos were really fun.....if I wasnt stilll playing many original DS games I have!

Please give our little random review show a try;
http://randomreviewshow.com/index.html
We have special effects and umm...stuff...

Flynnie on 25.10.2012 at 18:10#7

I guess i am just out of the swing of gaming these days, and not just that i have been more aptly waiting for them to release a 3DSlite with a second joystick on it. Maybe that is what others have been holding out for?

SuperLink on 25.10.2012 at 18:30#8

3DS doesn't have too many good games yet.. but it does have a fair amount. The difference between a 3DS and a DS at its core is the difference between a GBC and a GBA, the 3DS is more powerful, has bigger games, more features, etc. Not wanting to use the 3D feature doesn't mean none of the great original games for it are worth playing!

Also Kid Icarus is amazing Smilie and there are lots of faithful ports of fighting games for fighting on the go, plus Kingdom Hearts is great but it's a bit too power of friendship for some.
But yes the 3DS is cheap and has a good amount of games so far, probably not much less than the original DS had in that time, if not more!

I do however understand the want to wait for a new model with better battery and another analogue because you just know Nintendo will do it. .-. they dug that hole themselves.
And yeah Nintendo were cautious about the PSP for sure, the PSP also did extremely well, just not so compared to the 3DS.

The Vita on the other hand.. apparently even Sony are contemplating dropping Vita support. Which sucks because I really want one for a couple of games, I want them to make more games for it so I have an excuse to buy one! Smilie

Twitter | C3 Moderator | Backloggery

Flynnie on 25.10.2012 at 23:55#9

I may reconsider when it comes to the newer redesign. I had forgotten about Kid Icarus actually but that is also a game i'd like. I like having my GBA Port on the bottom of my DS though as i have a ton of GBA games i like to play on journeys.

I am not a doubter of the 3DS i think it has some good titles and will no doubt get some but the reason why it probably has stalled a little is that people know there will be a newer version sooner or later. I mean the DSlite sold a boat load when it came out and to me is the best of the DS line up.

Mush on 26.10.2012 at 00:28#10

3DS is actually my favourite handheld to date. Virtual Console, great downloadable titles, quite a few great games, great remakes/ports of older games. I can't really ask for much else tbh. It's only getting better too, with Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion 2, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and more all coming in early 2013 (apart from Paper Mario). Not only that, but you can also play the backlog of fantastic DS games on it too.

SirLink on 26.10.2012 at 11:08#11

The 3DS does have a killer library...but so many titles are still only in Japan or will stay in Japan. I know Japan loves their handhelds but it's really no surprise that the 3DS is selling like hotcakes over there when they have new (good) games arriving seemingly every other week. Localisations take a while unfortunately and Western studios are nowhere near as interested in the dedicated gaming handhelds as Japanese ones are. I hope by this time next year many of those games will have arrived in the West to boost the 3DS library over here and by then Nintendo will most likely have released all their currently known big 3DS titles too (Luigi's Mansion, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem).

I personally wouldn't keep waiting for a newer model if there are games I want to play, especially a 3DS Lite. The 3DS is already the same size as a DS Lite (I have both right next to me) and making it even smaller just wouldn't work without screen sizes taking a hit. I have to wonder though, why is this such a big problem when people have no issues at all buying new smartphones that get new models/upgrades much more often than the DS or PSP did. By that logic, wouldn't people wait for a fourth 3DS model if a new one comes next year or in 2014 and that cycle would just repeat until its successor?

Flynnie on 26.10.2012 at 22:21#12

SirLink said:
I personally wouldn't keep waiting for a newer model if there are games I want to play, especially a 3DS Lite. The 3DS is already the same size as a DS Lite (I have both right next to me) and making it even smaller just wouldn't work without screen sizes taking a hit. I have to wonder though, why is this such a big problem when people have no issues at all buying new smartphones that get new models/upgrades much more often than the DS or PSP did. By that logic, wouldn't people wait for a fourth 3DS model if a new one comes next year or in 2014 and that cycle would just repeat until its successor?

Sorry i perhaps didn't explain myself properly. I liked the DSlite at the time due to the improved screens, shape and size and finish on the machine. I didn't like the mat-like finish on the DSi, nor the removal of the GBA port. I didn't care for a 0.3mega pixel novelty camera either.

The DSlite was perfect handheld in the range of DS consoles for me. Just like the GBmicro in the GBA series.

My point with the 3DS is that i know they will release a new rehash again, they have just proved my point with the 3DS XL, but i was hoping they'd add the 2nd analogue stick. They will do it eventually, and when they do i'll buy it and pick up the majority of the games said in this thread cheap and pre-owned.

To relate it back to the news story , i bet there are a tonne of people just like me waiting for the rehashed console to come out and thats when the sales will go up. Nintendo are just scared of alienating the early adopters. What scares me more is that there are now more 3DS XL owners without the second joystick which makes me feel like my dream won't happen Smilie

Trepe on 27.10.2012 at 12:36#13

I'd have thought that development and production of the WiiU would have eaten into any profits Nintendo would make too. It's hard to tell how well the WiiU will do, but I think the 3DS will grow from strength to strength when more good software comes out.

Mush on 27.10.2012 at 13:51#14

Flynnie said:
My point with the 3DS is that i know they will release a new rehash again, they have just proved my point with the 3DS XL, but i was hoping they'd add the 2nd analogue stick. They will do it eventually, and when they do i'll buy it and pick up the majority of the games said in this thread cheap and pre-owned.

The point SirLink was making, is that the 3DS is the true successor to the DS and if you keep waiting around for "the perfect design" you'll probably be waiting until the start of the next generation, or at least very close to it. I honestly don't see what's wrong with the 3DS in terms of design, other than the D-Pad isn't the best. The lack of a second analogue doesn't bother me. I don't mind having another attachment to give me better grip.

Oh and I don't see the 3DS XL as a "rehash", it's more of an alternative choice for people who don't have a 3DS yet and want the option to have bigger screens. It doesn't add much else to the table other than the better battery life, which is far from being a worthwhile upgrade. Yes, they may of changed the design slightly, but it's nothing like the changes between the DS and DS Lite.

I'm fine with my 3DS, it's gotten a heck of a lot of usage and that isn't going to change, the only time I'll get an XL is if I win one or if something unfortunate was to happen to my 3DS. Which hopefully won't happen for a long time. Smilie