Nintendo profits drop over 50%

[Guy Fawkes]

It is a sad, sad day...

(snip)
TOKYO--Today, Nintendo announced its earnings for the year 2004 ending March 31, 2004--and the news was not good. Nintendo's net profit dropped by a massive 50.7 percent, falling to 33.2 billion yen ($297 million) for its financial year 2004.
(/snip)

http://www.gamespot.com/gba/news/news_6099453.html <- full article

[PeaceProgProsp]

1. Falling dollar must be hurting them.

I saw console sales were way off in the US too this year.

Money spent on video games is high as a percentage of total entertainment dollar, but I think a lot of families must be cutting out buying new games and consoles and must be making due with using older systems and renting games.

[Kellanved]

7. exactly

The report says that Nintendo lost 33.2 Billion Yen alone because of the weak Dollar. Investments in future systems are a major factor as well.

[Deja Q]

2. I think Nolan Bushnell felt the same in 1984 when Atari collapsed...

Atari, a one-time giant, plummeted in 1984, never got back up, and is now reduced to a trademark of Hasbro.

A hasbeen at Hasbro.

Nintendo's just the next on the block.

And that's okay. It was Nintendo that ahd put the axe to Atari...

[Guy Fawkes]

3. A rumor...

It was rumored in '99 that the Atari team was looking for sponcers so they could buy back their name and start over... But even if it was true, the Atari name is once again known for great games; and it would be too expensive to buy...

[curse10]

6. ET put the axe to Atari

millions of dollars put into one shitty game. it practically sank Atari all on its own. Their own fault.

[Champ]

4. What can I say?

I don't like Nintendo products, I don't think I ever purchased one. I have played many of them though.

[lanparty]

5. They fucked up ...

They're still shipping cartridges instead of discs. They are also very deeply involved in the "game approval process". Microsoft and Sony, by contrast, use DVDs and let people make what they want.

Nintendo is losing because the game is all about CONTENT! They try to control what gets on their console and that deters developers from investing.

[Kellanved]

8. huh?

Last time I checked the Gamecube used discs. Considering the extent of piracy seen with the DVD based consoles, using proprietary disks is no mistake at all.

The 128 MB cartridges of the DS are another matter entirely: Sony has yet to prove that a disk is a viable solution for a handheld system.

[lanparty]

9. Oops ...

I was thinking of N64. Oh well.

BTW, Sony's Playstation Portable will use a mini-DVD in a protective case. And it WILL succeed.

[Kellanved]

10. considering that we are talking about Sony, I tend to agree

But optical disks reading devices are usually not nearly as compact as the cartridges, nor are they as shock resistant.