Wii storms closer to 25 million mark

Nintendo has aired its financial laundry and flaunted profits of nearly 50 percent for 2007.

Its year came to a close at the end of March, and saw combined lifetime hardware sales of Wii and DS climb to over 95 million around the world.

Specifically, Wii sold 18.61 million units in 2007, taking its lifetime total to 24.45 million. Star performers for the console were Wii Fit with 1.85 million sales, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl with 4.85 million sales.

Oldies Wii Sports, Wii Play, Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Party 8 were also given a special mention.

Million-sellers for the console rose from 5 to 26.

The DS sold 30.31 million units in 2007, bolstering its lifetime total to 70.6 million. Key players here were Pokémon Diamond/Pearl shifting 9.56 million copies (14.77 million to date), and Brain Training/Brain Training 2 duo combining to reach 11.81 million sales (23.81 million to date).

Special mentions went to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Mario Party DS, as well as oldies Nintendogs and New Super Mario Bros.

Million-sellers for the handheld rose from 30 to 57.

All of that means lots and lots of money; total sales therefore amounted to JPY 1.67 trillion (USD 16.1 billion), with profit reaching JPY 257 billion (USD 2.48 billion).

As for the year ahead, Nintendo pointed towards downloadable service WiiWare as a fresh stream of revenue. Also, smiling families.

"Nintendo has positioned Wii as a machine that puts smiles on surrounding people's faces by encouraging positive interaction among family members in the living room," reads the financial report.

"In addition to existing software lineups, Nintendo will develop entertainment which is relevant to our daily lives. Nintendo will launch WiiWare which will provide a variety of new and unique software titles to be purchased and downloaded to Wii hardware in the US and Europe.

"Nintendo DS remains positioned as a machine that enriches the owners' daily lives. Nintendo's strategy is to accelerate the current sales momentum from must-have for every family to must-have for everyone by continuously introducing new and unique software introducing new services which take advantage of its expanded installed base," added the report.