Wii and DS sales boost Nintendo's profits

May 7, 8:19 AMBaltimore Handheld ExaminerAbe Arceo

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Nintendo has posted their results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, and things aren't looking too bad for Mario and friends. The Wii has sold over 50 million units, which makes it the fastest selling console ever, and the DS has gone over the 100 million unit sold mark. 

To put how well Nintendo did into perspective, AOL Money & Finance reports:

Still, Nintendo is faring much better than other big name Japanese manufacturers like Toyota Motor  Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., both forecasting record annual losses, lending weight to president Satoru Iwata's boast the game maker is "recession free."

The company said Thursday it racked up a record 279.09 billion yen ($2.8 billion) net profit for the fiscal year ended March 31, up from 257.34 billion yen the previous year.

IGN.com has also announced how well the top selling games for the Wii and DS have done:

In terms of individual titles, Pokemon Platinum sold 3.75 million units in the last fiscal year, and Kirby Super Star Ultra sold 2.36 million units. The Brain Training games continued to sell well, totaling 7.31 million units in the last fiscal year and 31.12 million units in their life-to-date. On Wii, Mario Kart Wii sold 15.4 million units, Animal Crossing: City Folk sold 3.38 million units and Wii Music sold 2.65 million units. Unsurprisingly, Wii Fit was the biggest success of the year, selling 16.37 million units. There are now 91 million selling games on DS (up from 57) and 54 on Wii (up from 26).

I don't think many of us are surprised at which titles were the big sellers for each system.  Pokemon Platinum was pretty much a given for the Nintendo DS, and with the Pokemon Video Game Championships right around the corner, I wouldn't be surprised if that helped push sales figures up. And although I'm surprised that Wii Music sold as many copies as it did, Mario Kart and Wii Fit as the top sellers for the Wii  should have been expected. 

So, I have to ask, does anyone still use their Wii Fit?