By Grant Shepherd

SYDNEY: According to GfK data, Nintendo Australia has had a very successful year in terms of sales of its DS and Wii gaming consoles. However, the story on a global level is quite different with sales and profit falling dramatically.

On the local front the Nintendo DS has once again taken the title of the highest selling console for the year, a title it has received four years running. Over 760,000 Nintendo DS units were shipped in 2009, taking the total up to 2.5 million units.

The Wii also continued to perform exceptionally well and sold through more than 730,000 units for the year, taking its install base up to 1.7 million units Australia wide.

Software sales were also very strong for Nintendo in Australia, with the top six selling games all on the Wii platform. These were Wii Fit, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Play, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros Wii and Wii Fit Plus (bundle).

“2009 was an exciting year for Nintendo,” said Rose Lappin, managing director, Nintendo Australia.

“We released a new console with Nintendo DSi and some great games, as well as Wii MotionPlus. 2010 looks to be a big year for Nintendo again, we have Nintendo DSi XL coming, as well as some big titles across both consoles.”

Despite this strong performance locally, on a global scale the company witnessed declines in some key areas.

Net sales during the nine months through December 2009 were 1,182.1 billion yen (down 23.1 per cent), operating income was 296.6 billion yen (down 40.8 per cent), ordinary income was 314.5 billion yen (down 10.8 per cent) and net income was 192.6 billion yen (down 9.4 per cent).

Nintendo stated that the company achieved strong sales in the third quarter holiday season, but this was offset by a lacklustre first six months and the appreciation of the yen.

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