Nintendo developing Wii 2 - As profits hit $1 billion in 3 months
By Dave Parrack
Today comes the news that profits at Nintendo are through the roof, piqued by increasingly healthy sales of the Wii, and continuing strong results for the DS. So with Nintendo on the crest of a wave, attention turns to plans for the next generation of consoles, with talk of the Wii 2 already emerging.
We saw yesterday that Sony’s game division is finally turning a profit, although an admittedly small one. This was mainly down to the resurgence of the PSP, although the PS3 did play some part. Now, Nintendo has published its financial report for the last quarter, that running between April and June.
According to BBC News, Nintendo’s net profit for this time period was $995 million, just 5 million shy of a billion. This is a 33.7% rise on the year before, with sales of the Wii increasing substantially since that time.
Nintendo claims to have sold 5.17 million Wii consoles worldwide over the past three months, a 50% rise on sales from the previous year. Sales of the portable DS actually dropped slightly, but a fall from 6.98 million to 6.94 million isn’t anything to worry about. The fact that the DS can still sell in those sorts of numbers, even though everyone seems to have one, is surely proof that Nintendo is still on the up.
Meanwhile, WiiFanboy reports that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed plans for the next Nintendo home console. Nintendo is already working on the successor to the Wii, presumably to be called the Wii 2, though timeline for release is mentioned. He said:
We are always preparing for the next hardware. We are under development. … But the hardware is a kind of box that consumers reluctantly buy in order to play our games.
Every new piece of hardware needs revolutionary features. This time around, it happened to be we had a revolutionary user interface. Will it be the same for the next generation? I really can’t tell.
The problem is: where does Nintendo go from here? The Wii has been such a phenomenal success already that unless they give gamers the chance to split the atom, the follow-up console is at risk of prompting calls of “Is that it?”
The Wii 2 will either be more of the same, or it’ll be something completely revolutionary. Maybe that neural headset technology could be built in to the system? But then that would take the console out of the realms of the casual gamer, and beyond the hardcore element to a very niche band.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on where Nintendo could go next, and if you think the profit growth will be sustained long-term.
Related:
Entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
under
Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
Stumble It!
Tips N4G
July 30th, 2008
Rumour has it, DAVE PARRACK is behind this super wii 2 console and is funding its R&D by using Gamer blorge.
But seriously, whats the point of a 2nd console this early? Surely nintendo would want to bleed the profit dry from the wii rather than rip everyone whose bought a wii console off by stopping production or funding of DECENT games on the wii!
July 30th, 2008
Just because they’re researching and even developing test stuff doesn’t mean its really coming any time soon Bourne and he doesn’t give a timeline at all.
That said, GIVE ME FULL VR NINTENDO!!!!!
Yeah yeah, probably not going to happen, but the FPS would be redefined with a VR helmet
My biggest Q is mirrored in the article - How can they top the Wii with the ‘casual’ audience?
July 30th, 2008
Casual audiences probably wouldn’t care for ‘better’ graphics or anything which is worth replacing the console they just bought yet, not for a year or 2.
At this stage anything new and phenomenal will be expensive for the consumer anyway and Wii’s consumers are not going to spend. Well, I don’t reckon, I’m not going to put money on it though. They could well be gagging for it.
July 30th, 2008
SW,
Even if Nintendo managed to swing full VR, they’d find a way to make it lame. Their flagship VR game would just involve running around mazes collecting dots.
-Arvis
July 30th, 2008
LOL - Probably true
July 30th, 2008
I’m guessing Nintendo are going for the win, this one will try to appeal to the hardcore market alot more.
Nintendo are going for global domination, I KNEW THEY WHERE EVIL, I KNEW IT, U ALL THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY BUT WHOSE CRAZY KNOW, NINTENDO THAT’S WHO. IT’S NICE CASUAL GAMES AND HAPPY SMILES THEN WHAM!!! DESTROY ANYONE WHO STANDS IN THEIR WAY.
U ALL THOUGHT IT WAS EITHER MICROSOFT OR SONY WHO WAS EVIL, BUT U WHERE WRONG IT’S JUST PROPOGANDA FROM THE NINTENDO INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX!!!
July 30th, 2008
2nd console this early is stupid….they are doing an xbox…lol
As a side note, just got a ds the other day…it’s great (traded the psp)
July 30th, 2008
Spidey dog how could you? abandoning our Sony bretherin. Kaz needs your $$$/£££’s….i think?
July 30th, 2008
Nintendo kept their hardware simple and affordable for the wii in case it was a failure. This way they were sure to make a profit even if motion control went bust. Now they they know it is successful and that people want more they can build a better Wii. If they create a Wii that can produce HD graphics, has wii-motion plus built in and a hard drive they will have the Wii2. Because it would be an upgrade of the existing system it would play all original wii games and possibly gamecube games(although I would rather they move gamecube to VC). Also because this would not be that big of a step I believe a wii2 could easily be seen before 2010 and sell like mad.
July 31st, 2008
i just traded IN my ds the other day, might get a PSP.
Or then again I might not. I think they both suck personally.
As for Wii 2, playing the latest Raving Rabbids or Mario Party in HD for £250? No thanks Nintendo.
July 31st, 2008
MGS4 for wii2 sounds nice.. =)
add wiimote fps style or incorporate CQC moves using wiimote nunchuck motions maybe ok.
playable raiden with wiimote motionplus swordplay FTW! yeah ba!
July 31st, 2008
The original Xbox was late to the party, hence why it was discontinued after a relatively short life. 360 is another story. It’s won this generation’s console war, and is turning big profits (It doesn’t have to rely on last generation console sales to prop up it’s ‘gaming division’), so it’s sticking around for much longer.
July 31st, 2008
One billion profit in 3 months, still letting that sink in….
July 31st, 2008
dont forget harry that microsoft wanted 2 years of a headstart on the competition! I mean the Wii has completely blitzed everything, and the PS3 is starting to shift into gear and only a couple of million behind, but that 2 years headstart was a great decision!
Who’s gonna bet they’ll do the same next generation?
July 31st, 2008
robb - just shutup. none of what you’re claiming is true. ms NEVER said they wanted ANY time frame of a headstart. just “first to market”.
back ot: there’s a reason why ninty’s been in the “family entertainment” industry for over 100 years (playing cards). they make smart decisions.
the wii is simply one more in a long line.
July 31st, 2008
Harry- “360 is another story. It’s won this generation’s console war”
getting a little ahead of ourselves aren’t we? It’s not over yet, plus the 360 is in second, no one has ever won second place, you are forced to settle for it!
“(It doesn’t have to rely on last generation console sales to prop up it’s ‘gaming division’)”
You can’t rely on something that doesn’t exist anymore. Not to mention if it did, what would they rely on, the billions of $ it lost?
July 31st, 2008
“It’s won this generation’s console war”
Ha! Harry u r getting desperate everyone knows the Wii has pretty much wrapped up this generation and there is still ages to go!
Sounds like uv’e realised the PS3 total sales is soon to pass 360 total and are now claiming the generation is already over! Ha
PS3 and Wii where released late 2006 and the 360 the year before, the ps3 was only available in Europe in March 2007!!!.
You do realise 360 sales havn’t even surpassed XBOX sales yet, this generation has barely started!
August 1st, 2008
Wii 2 still won’t as powerful as Crapbox 180 or PLAYSTATION 3 trust me is another Wii toy rip off.
August 1st, 2008
no i wont shut up hitler. its just cause you know what i’ve said is true. ‘first to market’ or whatever you call it just a fancy way of saying getting a headstart on the competition.
And you say that we eat Sony’s bullshit.
August 1st, 2008
First to market = RRoD epidemic.
I’ll take proper R&D time over a brick that I have a 1/3rd chances of having to ship out for repairs.
August 1st, 2008
robb said ” ‘first to market’ or whatever you call it just a fancy way of saying getting a headstart on the competition.”
So true, but if i remember right when sega and nintendo were fighting it out to be the best, the sega had a 2 year headstart and still lost that generation. I’m not saying it could happen today, just saying nothing’s certain.
September 26th, 2008
it should b sum kind of hardware addon to the original wii, giving it more power and possibilities, it wouldnt b that expensive then and that would make most wii owners buy it.
October 15th, 2008
Needs HD support
December 4th, 2008
I think that the wii 2 will be some type of totally 3d system cause i remember in a gamepro article before the wii was even released nintendo had said something about the next thing would be a game system where the game is “all around you” so possibly a 3d or hologram type machine. That is what i say.