Nintendo confirms first annual loss in console era

Nintendo has confirmed unprecedented negative results for the financial year, recording a net loss of £329 million ($531m) for twelve months ending March 31st.

The poor figures mark Nintendo’s first annual loss for thirty years and the only time it has accounted a year in the red since it began shipping games consoles.

Despite Nintendo shifting about 13.5 million 3DS units across the period, year-on-year revenues were down 36 per cent.

Nintendo claimed it “continues to pursue its basic strategy of ‘gaming population expansion’ by offering compelling products that anyone can enjoy, regardless of age, gender or gaming experience”.

Last year the company slashed the price of its 3DS systems in a bid to move on from the handheld’s stuttering start on the market.

That price reduction operation meant each system sold at a loss. Nintendo now predicts that 3DS will again be selling at a profit-per-unit price by September 2012.