Capcom: Monster Hunter Freedom 2G Boosts Capcom

Thanks largely to strong sales of Monster Hunter Freedom 2G on the PSP, Capcom said it had its best fiscal first quarter since it began reporting quarterly.

The company saw 16,352 million yen ($153.2 million) in net sales for its fiscal first quarter, an increase of 14.5 percent over the same period last year. The company's overall revenues took a 43.5 percent jump to 2,978 yen ($27.6 million), and profits were up 60.1% to 4,024 million yen ($37.2 million).

Monster Hunter Freedom 2G sales have been "skyrocketing," according to Capcom, since its March 27, 2008 release. The company also said the game broke Japanese PSP sales records, with 2 million units sold.

On the downside, the company's arcade business is struggling, though the impact to Capcom is mitigated by its home software performance.

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Nintendo Q109 Results: The GBA And GameCube...Still...Function!

The Game Boy Advance and GameCube. Relics of Nintendo's early 21st century efforts. Purple, plastic-looking consoles that, for all their strengths, were the company's flagship devices during the "dark days". With the Wii and DS on the scene nowadays, and printing all kinds of cash money, they're dead machines, yes? Gone, no further need for them, thanks for the memories, right? WRONG. They LIVE.

Nintendo's quarterly earnings show that, while they're hardly raking in the big bucks, both consoles are still selling units and still making money well into 2008. While nobody in Japan, Europe, Asia or Australia bought a new GameCube between April and June, somewhere, somehow, 40,000 Americans did. As for the GBA, well, none were sold in the US, but globally, 180,000 of them found new homes. 180,000! If you ever wonder why Nintendo have never publicly proclaimed the death of the little handheld, that's probably why.

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Capcom Q109 Results: Capcom Sales Up, Put Rough Window On SFIV Release

Capcom released its financial statement today, revealing a 14.5 percent increase in net sales and a 110.8 percent increase in net income with compared to Q1 last year. According to the release, the weaker yen meant a foreign exchange gain of ¥840 million — "a significant boost to ordinary income." Net sales for home console games were up 31.5 percent in comparison to the previous year's Q1. Game sales were powered by the Monster Hunter Freedom 2ndG phenomenon, which has shipped 2.48 million units as of July 2008 in Japan and Asia.

In the next quarter of this financial year, Capcom has no plans to launch any major titles. According to insiders however, Capcom said in a conference call today that it did plan to launch Street Fighter IV on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in the third quarter of this financial year, which would make it a holiday release (this Thanksgiving in the US?). Nothing has been confirmed, but that would make sense as Resident Evil 5 launches in March 2009.

Capcom did provide its sales target for upcoming titles. Resident Evil 5 is expected to move 2.3 units, SFIV is expected to move 1.7 million, Bionic Commando 1.5 million units and Dead Rising Chop Till You Drop 0.5 million units.

Capcom also reports that arcade operations were up 6.5 percent, while arcade game sales were up 47 percent. However, as Capcom states: "Arcades in shopping centers had a particularly difficult time because of the rising popularity games for home video games and escalating gasoline price." Imagine that means the Japanese suburban arcade scene isn't exactly hopping. Between April and June 2008, one Capcom arcade was opened and zero were closed. The arcade division was in the red due to heavy development costs and the lack of new releases. "Card game sales to arcade game machines are running somewhat above plan," Capcom added.

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