Nintendo made a pitch for the ongoing match fitness of its aging Super Mario Switch console on Wednesday. This is as the Kyoto-based gaming company continues to churn out hits like Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Nintendo Switch even as the market debates the timing of a successor device.
The Japanese firm said it sold 4.3 million copies of “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” the first entirely new instalment in the almost 40-year-old side-scrolling series in a decade within two weeks of its Oct 20 launch.
Mario Wonder Nintendo Switch
That is the best performance of any “Super Mario” title, Nintendo said, as it takes advantage of the Switch install base of more than 130 million units and interest generated by a barnstorming animated movie featuring the mustachioed plumber, Super Mario. All these have generated increased the sale for Super Mario Wonder Nintendo Switch.
“The Switch will enter its eighth year from March 2024 but we will continue to develop new titles without being bound by previous platform lifecycles,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told a strategy briefing.
Nintendo Switch sales
As per Nintendo Switch sales is about 6.84 million units in the first six months of the financial year that started in April. This is a slight increase in Nintendo Switch sales, on the same period a year earlier.
Sales of first-party Switch games were the strongest of any year over that period other than 2020, Nintendo said, boosted by bumper titles such “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”.
Nintendo also announced on Wednesday “Super Mario” creator Shigeru Miyamoto is developing a live action adaptation of the “Zelda” franchise.
Games slated for release next year include “Mario vs. Donkey Kong” and “Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD” Nintendo Switch.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The timing of a successor to the hybrid home/portable Switch device will depend on the strength of Nintendo’s hardware and software sales, wrote Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal. Flagging March and October as possible launch windows.
“The stronger the sales, the later the launch of Switch 2,” he wrote.
Nintendo reported sales and profit figures above expectations for its second fiscal quarter ended September 30.
Nintendo continued profit
The Japanese video game company, Nintendo said it continues to benefit from sales related to The Super Mario Bros. Movie released in April and its flagship The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game released in May.
Nintendo said it sold 6.84 million Switch consoles in the April to September period, up 2.4% year-on-year. The company is keeping its forecast of selling 15 million Switch hardware units through the end of the fiscal year in March 2024.
Nintendo revenue forecast
Nintendo also raised its sales and profit forecast for its current fiscal year. On revenue, Nintendo reported 334.9 billion Japanese yen ($2.2 billion) versus 317.3 billion yen expected. The net profit was 90.3 billion yen compared to 75.7 billion yen expected. Compared to a year ago, Nintendo’s revenue fell 4% year-on-year and its profit dropped 19%.
