It should come as little surprise that Nintendo reported record profits today for the end of their third quarter, selling millions upon millions of things worldwide. What kind of things? How about 3.19 million Wiis? Would you believe 1.5 million Virtual Console games? Can I possibly impress you with nineteen Nintendo published titles that sold more than a million copies in nine months?

With the exception of some 800,000 Wiis that didn't make it into gamers hands before the end of the year, it's good news all around for the company cruising the unchartered waters of gaming's Blue Ocean. Net sales are up, operating income is up, Wiis are reselling old NES games to people who already own them for five bucks a pop, DSes continue to print money, and people are still buying Game Boys.

Not mentioned in the report were plans for Satoru Iwata to complete the gold plating of his home office or when Shigeru Miyamoto will have the diamond encrusting redone on his bicycle. With all that cash flying around, it seems strange that both men are still getting 1000 yen haircuts. It is a mystery!

Full release after the jump. Michael McWhertor

Nintendo 3Q Consolidated Financial Results

Nintendo Co., Ltd. today announced that strong sales of Nintendo DS hardware and software and the successful launch of Wii have led to record consolidated sales and operational profit for the nine-month period ending Dec. 31, 2006 (*see attached). Recurring and net profits also set record highs. Nintendo maintains projections for record financial results through its fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2007.

Thanks to extremely strong Nintendo DS sales and the successful launch of Wii, Nintendo's consolidated net sales were up 72.8 percent over the same nine-month period last year, and operating income was up 102.5 percent.

Nintendo also announced:
During the first nine months of the current fiscal year, consolidated worldwide shipments of 19 software titles for Nintendo platforms reached or surpassed 1 million units. These include three Wii titles, 13 Nintendo DS titles and three Game Boy Advance titles.
Nearly 1.4 million Wii hardware systems have connected to the Internet worldwide (as of 1/24/07)
Approximately 1.5 million Virtual Console games have been downloaded and sold to customers worldwide (as of 1/24/07)
More than 3.5 million unique users have enjoyed game play on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for Nintendo DS, with far more than 100 million connections (as of 1/24/07)

The company held firm to its previous forecast for consolidated worldwide shipments of 6 million Wii hardware systems by the end of the fiscal year. Nintendo manufactured 4 million Wii systems by the end of 2006 and during that time sold and delivered 3.19 million to its distributors and retail customers around the world.