Nintendo's operations can easily be compared to money printing. The Japan-based giant has revealed its results for the financial year to date, reporting that total sales were some US$18.5 billion, amounting to some 1.83 TRILLION Yen. (In other words, a very large amount of money).

The financial highlights released by the company noted that the total growth of the company was some 8.5% over last year's figures, amidst a market that collapsed to rubble. (Contrary to popular belief, empires built on pocket change, instead of discarded Nintendo Wii boxes do collapse.)

The strong performance of Nintendo was driven by slaes of the Wii and DS platforms. 26 million Wii consoles were sold last financial year, with just over 50 million having been sold since the launch of the console. In the hand held world, the Nintendo DS sold 31 million units in the reporting period, driving sales of the console over 100 million.

Both platforms, according to Nintendo have achieved these large sales figures faster than any other previously released video game platform, resulting in executives bathing in coins, and stuffing their mattresses, pillows, and car seats with plush one hundred dollar bills.

Several reports also indicate that cash assets have been used as a source of heat within the publisher's offices. While those rumours are unconfirmed, sales of Pokémon Platinum platform lead hte money making charge on the software front, with some 3.75 million copies sold worldwide, along with Kirby Super Star Ultra which followed closely with 2.36 million copies sold.


Pokémon Platinum, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii
All this was achieved without the two star entries on the DS platform having even been released in Australia and Europe. The incoming sales for those regions are likely to be high, as the impact of the global economy hasn't hit as hard in those regions.

On the Wii, 16.37 million customers invested in Wii Fit, which caused many convulsions throughout the marketing department of the company. Mario Kart Wii also sent the company into a spin, with some 15.4 million copies sold, along with the plastic chunk otherwise known as the Wii Wheel. Wii Music only managed sales of 2.65 million.

Nintendo is optimistic about its future, with high hopes for Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks appearing to lead the charge for their next reporting session. Nintendo are likely to continue the charge, because even amidst an unfavourable economic environment the company asserts that they have "achieved record results in both net sales and profit."