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Nintendo breaks record for highest operating profit earned in a fiscal year by a console maker

Woopah

Member
I agree for the most part. Accessibility is absolutely crucial but that is also part of Sony's strategy to offer a variety of things for different types of gamers. You have your 'Demon's Souls' but you also have Sackboy and Bugsnax (not PS5 only) but there is choice there and on the flip side that diverse audience has other choices from 3rd parties. This is also where Nintendo benefits from 'droughts' due to the aformentioned lack of competition on their platform.

Most games take off when it becomes a social phenomena and being Free helps 100%.

I agree with your final point as well. Chasing that power dragon with no vision or talent behind it will always have you falling on your face. You need good games.
Nintendo does not benefit at all from droughts. The stronger their third party support is the more attractive the Switch is, so the bigger the install base is.

Nintendo make money from every third party game sold and they don't see them as competitors. First party games sell on their own merit and not due to 'lack of competition'.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Sorry about that. Meant to say "profits downplayed" when it's Nintendo.
LOL. Too lazy to find the other Nintendo/Sony thread a month ago about profits, but who was the guy who derailed that thread out of nowhere saying that 5 year cash flow statement comparisons is the holy grail of financial excellence?
 
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EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Nintendo has to get a next gen console going yes still selling switchs but they’re tremendous at releasing consoles late.
 

Marvel14

Banned
How am I off my rockers? I'm not sure if you are reading my comment correctly.

I agree, I was only commenting on profitability and only the games side because that's majority of Nintendo's business. Sony and Microsoft can afford to be loss leaders in hardware due to their other business segments.

Comparing Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft as a whole would be "off my rockers". Sony/Microsoft are bigger companies and usually don't rely on Games business to keep them afloat.

I wasn't replying just to your comment (hence 'you are ALL off your rockers' rather than just you). I was reacting to the whole "Nintendo's penus is bigger than Sony's and Microsoft's, but operating profit doesn't matter " discussion that you were engaging with.

Truth is install base, recurrent revenue, brand loyalty across generations and operating profit combined are all important metrics to answer the question " who is doing better in the videogame business? ".

That is a much more interesting discussion than the relative merits of operating profit between the big 3.
 
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Hardensoul

Member
I wasn't replying just to your comment (hence 'you are ALL off your rockers' rather than just you). I was reacting to the whole "Nintendo's penus is bigger than Sony's and Microsoft's, but operating profit doesn't matter " discussion that you were engaging with.

Truth is install base, recurrent revenue, brand loyalty across generations and operating profit combined are all important metrics to answer the question " who is doing better in the videogame business? ".

That is a much more interesting discussion than the relative merits of operating profit between the big 3.

You are generalizing lumping everyone talking about profits in this thread and that it's about biggest epeen. Where in my comment indicating as such. I'm just reiterating some facts that are stated else where and in this thread. I did not say which company is best or worst.

I'll say it again comparing these 3 company's as a whole is irrelevant, they do not do the same thing. Each company has different strategy to become successful. Sony and MS aren't just gaming and they don't rely on gaming to stay afloat.

Nintendo is the only company that mostly relies on gaming to be successful. I do believe profit in generations that looked very bad is good and help them bounce back. From SNES, N64/GameCube decline sales, then Wii to WiiU decline sales. If they did not have profits during those generations that would've killed their home console business.
 

Mozza

Member
I wasn't replying just to your comment (hence 'you are ALL off your rockers' rather than just you). I was reacting to the whole "Nintendo's penus is bigger than Sony's and Microsoft's, but operating profit doesn't matter " discussion that you were engaging with.

Truth is install base, recurrent revenue, brand loyalty across generations and operating profit combined are all important metrics to answer the question " who is doing better in the videogame business? ".

That is a much more interesting discussion than the relative merits of operating profit between the big 3.

The big three are all doing well which is good for the industry as a whole, we need the more traditional power led consoles from Sony and Microsoft, but there is also a place for Nintendo as well with their own brand of entertainment, I personally would not like it any other way.

After Nintendo's poor sales with the Wii U it's nice to see them have some success, but comparing directly with Sony or Microsoft is pure folly, as they are going after totally different demographics, of course there will be a small crossover of customers, but on the whole it's a totally different market.
 

Animagic

Banned
The hybrid model is the future. Cloud gaming isn’t it, it’s taking your actual games with you either around the house or on a trip.
Would 100% buy a hybrid Xbox or PlayStation.
 
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Marvel14

Banned
You are generalizing lumping everyone talking about profits in this thread and that it's about biggest epeen. Where in my comment indicating as such. I'm just reiterating some facts that are stated else where and in this thread. I did not say which company is best or worst.

I'll say it again comparing these 3 company's as a whole is irrelevant, they do not do the same thing. Each company has different strategy to become successful. Sony and MS aren't just gaming and they don't rely on gaming to stay afloat.

Nintendo is the only company that mostly relies on gaming to be successful. I do believe profit in generations that looked very bad is good and help them bounce back. From SNES, N64/GameCube decline sales, then Wii to WiiU decline sales. If they did not have profits during those generations that would've killed their home console business.
Yup I think we are arguing over nothing. ...I think you took my post a bit too personally...
 

Davey Cakes

Member
I just hope that they're willing to continue taking risks, and I don't just mean projects like Labo, the theme parks, and movies.

They have the money to try and bring BOTW-level success to their other franchises. It's exciting to hear when Retro continues getting new talent for Metroid Prime 4 since it means that Nintendo is offering the budget to make something special (even in a series that has been only mildly successful in the past).

F-Zero, Kid Icarus, StarTropics, Star Fox, etc. BRING THEM BACK NINTENDO. YOU CAN AFFORD IT.

And then make the next Pikmin or Splatoon-level new IP.
 
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Woopah

Member
I just hope that they're willing to continue taking risks, and I don't just mean projects like Labo, the theme parks, and movies.

They have the money to try and bring BOTW-level success to their other franchises. It's exciting to hear when Retro continues getting new talent for Metroid Prime 4 since it means that Nintendo is offering the budget to make something special (even in a series that has been only mildly successful in the past).

F-Zero, Kid Icarus, StarTropics, Star Fox, etc. BRING THEM BACK NINTENDO. YOU CAN AFFORD IT.

And then make the next Pikmin or Splatoon-level new IP.
As much as fans want it, I don't think it's feasible for a publisher to make new IPs and continue all their major IPs from the past 35 years.

I can see them bringing back one or two older franchises and hopefully they return to publishing new IP like we saw pre 2020
 
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Great. Can I get a discount on their games? Or perhaps an All-stars Collection "Remake" that isn't a lazily hashed together ROM collection running on a shitty emulator?
Oh and also a functional online system (which is so bad, I'm actually ashamed on their behalf that they have the audacity to charge money for).

Surely they've made enough money to do this. They've made market leading profits after all.
 
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Bodomism

Banned
I think this is a perfect time for Nintendo to introduce nintendo select sales promotion.

Games that have sold around 1-3M would benefit greatly.
 

Dodkrake

Banned
You said PS5 is the leader in dollar sales. Maybe you weren't downplaying Nintendo's profits literally, but higher dollar sales (aka revenue) is a less meaningful superlative.

It's not maybe, I wasn't. I just answered a question, that's all. An revenue is absolutely not less meaningful, it's as meaningful as any other measurement.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
I just had flashbacks of page 1 of that Switch Pre-Release thread.
All these Nintendo is doomed posts are delicious in hindsight.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
"But first, a word from our sponsor:"

Most of PS latest successions is thanks to other division expertise: Camera division, Sony Pictures with lots of assets and compatible engines used on movies, Sony Music. Sony revolves around passion and entertainment.
 
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Bo_Hazem

Banned
"But first, a word from our sponsor:"

Yup, PS is massive in the gaming category, Sony Music is massive in the music category, Sony Pictures is massive in the cinema category, Sony alpha is massive in the still camera category, Sony CineAlta is massive in the video camera category, Sony imaging sensor holds half the image sensors of planet Earth, including cloud servers, VAR in football, Tennis, Olympics, etc. Not to mention that Sony optical disk archive (ODA) is massive for servers and a critical part of every cloud services out there, including Azure, AWS, etc.

So yeah, that's the whole word from your sponsor. :messenger_winking_tongue:
 

Celine

Member
The big three are all doing well which is good for the industry as a whole, we need the more traditional power led consoles from Sony and Microsoft, but there is also a place for Nintendo as well with their own brand of entertainment, I personally would not like it any other way.

After Nintendo's poor sales with the Wii U it's nice to see them have some success, but comparing directly with Sony or Microsoft is pure folly, as they are going after totally different demographics, of course there will be a small crossover of customers, but on the whole it's a totally different market.
Cross ownership stats as early 2019 in US:
xDrvkHS.jpg


The idea that Nintendo doesn't also target the customers that owns PS/Xbox is not grounded in reality.
However it's true that how Nintendo manages their consoles and how PS/Xbox are managed is quite different.
 
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Mozza

Member
Cross ownership stats as early 2019 in US:
xDrvkHS.jpg


The idea that Nintendo doesn't also target the customers that owns PS/Xbox is not grounded in reality.
However it's true that how Nintendo manages their consoles and how PS/Xbox are managed is quite different.

Of course Nintendo want the widest possible demographic, but they have not been solely after the core business since the Gamecube, now the Switch is a little different as it will appeal to the more casual gamers as well as core types, who will see it as a perfect partner to their consoles from Sony and Microsoft.
 
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Marvel14

Banned
"Co-op console-idation" or "co-op-eration" sounds better than a made up word like "co-opetition" that no one will understand.
 
"Co-op console-idation" or "co-op-eration" sounds better than a made up word like "co-opetition" that no one will understand.
what about "cope-etition"

I think the lesson, which nintendo obviously already learned, is forge your own path, don't just imitate others. Yes, it can be a downer sometimes when they are behind the curve on stuff like online services, but they clearly have strengths elsewhere and have something special to offer.
 
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yurinka

Member
I wasn't replying just to your comment (hence 'you are ALL off your rockers' rather than just you). I was reacting to the whole "Nintendo's penus is bigger than Sony's and Microsoft's, but operating profit doesn't matter " discussion that you were engaging with.

Truth is install base, recurrent revenue, brand loyalty across generations and operating profit combined are all important metrics to answer the question " who is doing better in the videogame business? ".

That is a much more interesting discussion than the relative merits of operating profit between the big 3.
Well, to do better in a business is to make more money, so revenue. The profit will depend of the amount of that revenue they decide to reinvest.

In this case Sony makes way more money than Nintendo, but decides to reinvest most of it on getting more and bigger great games.

As a result, more games get released and sold on PlayStation, more niches get covered and more consoles are sold because more players see their niche covered there.

Regarding userbase, PS4, Switch and PS5 are the best selling consoles ever at their life cycle point (PS4 almost, is 2.5M behind PS2). Regarding games sold, there are already more games sold for PS4 than for any other console in gaming history, more than PS2 did on its lifetime and almost 3x the amount of games sold for Switch (but it has been some years more in the market). Regarding the quality of the games each one has its own tastes, but most GOTY winners and candidates of the recent years are on PlayStation and many of them are exclusive.

It's nice to see Microsoft showing a good growth and improving in terms of business/making money? Yes. Are they still way behind Sony? Too. Is nice to see Nintendo getting more profits? Yes. It would be better to see them getting less profits to reinvest that money on getting more games to get closer to the output that Sony has? Too. It would be better to see Sony investing less in games to get more profit? No, the opposite. It would be better to see them investing even more on getting more great games.

Cross ownership stats as early 2019 in US:

The idea that Nintendo doesn't also target the customers that owns PS/Xbox is not grounded in reality.
However it's true that how Nintendo manages their consoles and how PS/Xbox are managed is quite different.
On PS an Xbox game sales are for both mostly from multiplatform AAA games, so they compete directly. This is why little overlap.

Switch as of now has the monopoly of the portables, combined its home console market+portable market+is the next gen PS Vita regarding to be the portable indie machine. Portable indie machine + Nintendo games is way more compatible with one of the other consoles.

So while it's true Switch is different because also covers a more family/casual market and the Nintendo die-hard fans, it also targets the same group of traditional hardcore AAA game players while not affecting their sales, they coexist and don't compete directly because for a player makes sense sense to have PS+Switch or Xbox+Switch than PS+Xbox.
 
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Amin_Parker

Member
Of course Nintendo want the widest possible demographic, but they have not been solely after the core business since the Gamecube, now the Switch is a little different as it will appeal to the more casual gamers as well as core types, who will see it as a perfect partner to their consoles from Sony and Microsoft.
Nice to see you posting over here on neogaf. I enjoyed your comments over at Nintendolife as well. I am a big supporter of your remarks throughout these online gaming forums.
 

Bodomism

Banned
I still remember in the past threads when a few users were using dollar spending argument would weaken Nintendo Switch momentum because they're likely to spend it on a new consoles than the Nintendo Switch.

That was a good time especially Nintendo just shattered the record profit right after PS5 and XSX released on the market.
 

BlackTron

Member
Great. Can I get a discount on their games? Or perhaps an All-stars Collection "Remake" that isn't a lazily hashed together ROM collection running on a shitty emulator?
Oh and also a functional online system (which is so bad, I'm actually ashamed on their behalf that they have the audacity to charge money for).

Surely they've made enough money to do this. They've made market leading profits after all.

I find it amusing that a company reports record profits, and the first thing someone has to say is "can I get a discount"?

Look, I dislike the consistently high price of Nintendo games too, but I don't think they made record profits by being nice guys and winning a popularity contest for the best discount. Their pricing strategy is working REALLY well, not the time I would try to school them on it.
 

Mozza

Member
I still remember in the past threads when a few users were using dollar spending argument would weaken Nintendo Switch momentum because they're likely to spend it on a new consoles than the Nintendo Switch.

That was a good time especially Nintendo just shattered the record profit right after PS5 and XSX released on the market.

The naysayers have been predicting a Switch sales slump since forever, first sales were supposed to collapse after launch, then there has always been some reason or other why people would suddenly come to their senses, and stop buying an under powered console. ;)
 

Woopah

Member
The naysayers have been predicting a Switch sales slump since forever, first sales were supposed to collapse after launch, then there has always been some reason or other why people would suddenly come to their senses, and stop buying an under powered console. ;)
My favourite one was "no one will buy a Switch for Smash Bros. because all Nintendo fans already have one".
 
I find it amusing that a company reports record profits, and the first thing someone has to say is "can I get a discount"?

Look, I dislike the consistently high price of Nintendo games too, but I don't think they made record profits by being nice guys and winning a popularity contest for the best discount. Their pricing strategy is working REALLY well, not the time I would try to school them on it.
I'm not particularly interested in how profitable Nintendo is, because it makes absolutely zero difference to me.
I know just how successful their strategy is, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna sit around and cream over their record profits, all the while the Switch is a total joke in terms of industrial design, we get ripped off having to pay actual real money for the appalling shit they like to call an "network service", the joycons cost £70 whilst having the longevity of a fucking mayfly, and their Anniversary collections are £50 ROM collections running on a shitty emulator.

Of fucking course I want a discount.
As I said, I don't give a single shite about how much money they make if none of that money is being reinvested in fixing the obvious issues surrounding their platform with the sole exception of their Tier 1 software (Mario, Zelda, AC).
 

Mozza

Member
I'm not particularly interested in how profitable Nintendo is, because it makes absolutely zero difference to me.
I know just how successful their strategy is, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna sit around and cream over their record profits, all the while the Switch is a total joke in terms of industrial design, we get ripped off having to pay actual real money for the appalling shit they like to call an "network service", the joycons cost £70 whilst having the longevity of a fucking mayfly, and their Anniversary collections are £50 ROM collections running on a shitty emulator.

Of fucking course I want a discount.
As I said, I don't give a single shite about how much money they make if none of that money is being reinvested in fixing the obvious issues surrounding their platform with the sole exception of their Tier 1 software (Mario, Zelda, AC).

Sounds like you are more interested than you are letting on. ;)
 

ultrazilla

Member
Nintendo has just announced its financial results for the full fiscal year ending March 2021 which were record breaking.
In particular the operating profit for the full fiscal year amounted to 640.63 Bn yen which is the highest ever recorded in a fiscal year by any console manufacturer (company or console division in the case of mega corporations).
The previous record holder was Nintendo’s fiscal year ending March 2009 which was the peak of the Wii/DS business.

It is probable that the Switch era will be more profitable than the Wii/DS era for Nintendo.


Top 5 highest operating profits recorded by any console manufacturer (company or console division in the case of mega corporations) until now:

Manufacturer | Fiscal Year | Operating Profits
Nintendo, FY ending March 2021: 640.63 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2009: 555.26 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2008: 487.22 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2010: 356.57 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2020: 352.37 Bn yen


source:

"BUT....BUT...NINTENDO SHOULD GO THIRD PARTY!!"

Never want to read/hear that shit again!

FocusedWellinformedBantamrooster-max-1mb.gif
 
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BlackTron

Member
I'm not particularly interested in how profitable Nintendo is, because it makes absolutely zero difference to me.
I know just how successful their strategy is, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna sit around and cream over their record profits, all the while the Switch is a total joke in terms of industrial design, we get ripped off having to pay actual real money for the appalling shit they like to call an "network service", the joycons cost £70 whilst having the longevity of a fucking mayfly, and their Anniversary collections are £50 ROM collections running on a shitty emulator.

Of fucking course I want a discount.
As I said, I don't give a single shite about how much money they make if none of that money is being reinvested in fixing the obvious issues surrounding their platform with the sole exception of their Tier 1 software (Mario, Zelda, AC).

I never said that you should care how much money they make. I only meant that they have no reason to care how much you wanna pay. Because everyone else is ponying up what they ask.

I can sell shit in a box and if armies of people want to pay $100 for it I'll let them. If you point out that it's just shit in a box and demand a discount, I'm not budging from my $100 asking price. I'm warning you not to be trampled by the stampede behind you eager to get theirs.

Blame the fans that eat Nintendo's shit and like it.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Nintendo has just announced its financial results for the full fiscal year ending March 2021 which were record breaking.
In particular the operating profit for the full fiscal year amounted to 640.63 Bn yen which is the highest ever recorded in a fiscal year by any console manufacturer (company or console division in the case of mega corporations).
The previous record holder was Nintendo’s fiscal year ending March 2009 which was the peak of the Wii/DS business.

It is probable that the Switch era will be more profitable than the Wii/DS era for Nintendo.


Top 5 highest operating profits recorded by any console manufacturer (company or console division in the case of mega corporations) until now:

Manufacturer | Fiscal Year | Operating Profits
Nintendo, FY ending March 2021: 640.63 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2009: 555.26 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2008: 487.22 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2010: 356.57 Bn yen
Nintendo, FY ending March 2020: 352.37 Bn yen


source:

Good job NIntendo, my sincere respects
 
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