NINTENDO’S REVIVAL continues unabated just a few years after the Wii U was being touted in hushed tones as the end of the company.…
NINTENDO’S REVIVAL continues unabated just a few years after the Wii U was being touted in hushed tones as the end of the company.
Its Q1 results for 2018 show that the Japanese stalwart has sold 19.67 million Switch consoles worldwide, far in excess of anyone’s initial expectations and just seven months after it broke the 10 milion mark, earning it the title of the fastest selling console in US history .
Nintendo has pledged to smash through that barrier this financial year and actually beat the 20 million mark. At present, it has only managed about 10 per cent of that figure, but it’s not really been the gaming time of year.
Once we get closer to Black Friday and then the holiday-six-week-spendorama we’ll probably see figures much more on target – especially as there’s a raft of new games on the horizon (though sadly no port of Big Brain Academy or Wii Sports Resort. Boo).
Nintendo made the equivalent of £208m from revenue of £1.14bn this quarter and that’s a heck of jump for a company that made The Switch in « Do-or- end-up-like-HTC -Die » circumstances.
By the end of the quarter, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is likely to hit 10 million copies sold, putting it alongside Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the latter having broken the 10 million milestone this quarter.
This is all bluster and piffle of course, as the real question will be whether Chris can ever get as good at Carly or Roland on Zelda. The answer is probably not.
The Nintendo Switch will also have been bolstered with the all-conquering Fortnite arriving on the console as a free-to-play title, making it appealing to those just want to get the console without a deal, but then aren’t sure what they are going to play.
Games are likely to fuel the finances going forward with Mario Tennis Aces already clocking up 1.4 million sales in just a few weeks.
Meanwhile, Nintendo has committed to the 3DS, after some questioned its lifespan. However, regular versions of the devices are being phased out now in favour of the XL editions, and it’s these that we’ll see promoted at Christmas.
Along with yet more sodding Pokemon we would expect. μ
