Nintendo continues to feel the pinch of income shortfalls, showing that even revised earnings that showed the company expected to lose didn't even reach the reality. The company posted last year's financial results and it doesn't look good, with the company having even more operating pitfalls that previously expected.
Even sales, which were at $5.6 billion, were lower than the revised forecast of $5.79 billion. In April 2013, the company had envisioned around $9 billion in earnings, but that failed to materialize as the Xbox and Sony Playstation took center stage in the video gaming world, leaving Nintendo on the outside looking in.
This is the third consecutive losing year for Nintendo, which in the 1990s had dominated the gaming world with its innovative games and platforms, but today it remains mired in what some experts and observers say is the old guard of gaming.
Much of the blame for this year's losses was put squarely on Wii U.
"With respect to Wii U, while five key first-party titles, such as Super Mario 3D World, New Super Mario Bros. U, and New Super Luigi U became million-seller titles, the Wii U business as a whole showed slow growth," Nintendo said [pdf] in a financial statement.
Despite the lack of profits, the company is still looking at the console as the future of its gaming industry. Nintendo hopes the number of launches scheduled for later this year will revitalize its market share and get users excited about the products. But off the backs of the latest Microsoft and Sony launches of new gaming consoles, it could still be an uphill battle.
In an effort to boost earnings and keep the company relevant, Nintendo has also announced in its financial statement that it would be looking at licensing a number of its characters. This could mean the beginning of film franchises based on the popular characters, although Nintendo did not elaborate on what exactly that would entail.
For now, Nintendo is a distant third in the gaming world and without a concerted effort to change the status quo, it could find itself sitting once again in a losing financial year come 2015 this time of year.
