Still hoping for big things

Nintendo just posted a 70 billion Yen loss: even the least economically minded of us can tell you that's not good. Every cloud has a silver lining though, and in this case it's the dramatically increased upswing in sales of the 3DS.

In the period between April and June 2011, Nintendo shifted just 710,000 consoles around the world: in the period between June and September it sold 2.36 million units.

Worldwide 3DS sales stand at 6.68m, which Nintendo hopes to bump up to 16m by the end of the financial year in April 2012.

The August price cut didn't have the same effect on software sales however, which actually slowed during the past quarter: between April and June 4.53m units of software were sold worldwide, whereas the following three months saw 3.6m units sold, despite the release of 16 new titles around the world including Star Fox 64 3D. However, June did see The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D release, a game that's already sold 1m units around the world.

With a total of 17.56m software units sold since launch, Nintendo is still aiming big with its year-end target of 50m units, but the much-anticipated releases of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 will no doubt help the company edge closer to this benchmark.

[source nintendo.co.jp]