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Nintendo halves operating loss from a year ago despite falling Wii and DS sales

Nintendo halves operating loss from a year ago despite falling Wii and DS sales

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Over 5 million 3DS consoles moved ahead of Wii U launch

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Nintendo Wii Stock 1020
Nintendo Wii Stock 1020

Nintendo has released its earnings for the first half of 2012, and there's good and bad news. While the company lost 29.2 billion yen ($366 million) from April to September, the flow of money out of the company has been stemmed somewhat; last year's equivalent figure was a loss of 57.3 billion yen ($718 million). Overall Nintendo's total assets actually increased 2.85% over the course of the past six months.

3DS sales are up 64.8 percent

Sales continued to fall almost across the board, however. The DS and Wii, both coming towards the end of their life cycles, sold 970,000 and 1.32 million units respectively — drops of 62.4 percent and 60.6 percent. The 3DS, on the other hand, was the one bright spot; sales were up 64.8 percent for a total of 5.06 million units, of which 2.1 million were the newer (and more expensive) XL model.

Nintendo expects to get a further boost from the launch of the Wii U next month, forecasting sales of 5.5 million units in the second half of its fiscal year. With the 3DS performing well, the company will be hoping for a smooth transition into the next generation.