Nintendo Q2 profits up 36% (what economic downturn?)

There are exactly two groups not projecting doom and gloom in the face of the current economic crisis: knapsack-on-a-stick manufacturers and Nintendo. A combination of clever marketing, unique products, and black magic resulted in a record six-month period, with Q2 quarterly profits up 36% thanks to strong sales of both the DS and Wii platforms. And things are still looking good, despite the company cutting its profit forecast some 3% due to the stronger yen. Nintendo upped its forecast for Wii console sales from 26.5m to 27.5m and upped DS software sales to 207m units from 197m.

Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata laughed off the economic "downturn" saying, "I think it is safe to say strong game demand is intact despite all this talk about the financial crisis." Fellow Japanese gaming giant Sony might not be faring so well but, indeed, its games business isn't the source of its financial woes. Here are some overall numbers from the Big N: lifetime Wii sales are 34.55 million; lifetime DS sales are 84.33 million (more than the Game Boy Advance!*); and Wii Fit has sold an incredible 8.7 million units since launching in Japan last December.

*Combined with Game Boy Color, the original Game Boy still holds the record: 118.69M units!