Nintendo has reported record sales again, when it comes to both hardware and software. The Japanese game console creator and videogame publisher has managed to increase its sales and profit, registering a 10% increase over the previous period. Operating income reached 5.6 billion dollars for the fiscal year while net sales reached 18.5 billion dollars.

Most of the revenue was derived from the Japanese home market, with the United States second and Europe and other territories third. The Nintendo Wii shifted almost 30 million consoles in one year, while the handheld Nintendo DS managed to sell even more, with 31.18 million units being bought.

Apparently, the Wii is now faster than the PlayStation 2 when it comes to lifetime units shifted. In the first months of 2009, the Wii started to lose some ground in Japan, with the PlayStation 3 beating it for about two months in row, but it still performs well in the United States.

The biggest seller when it comes to the Nintendo Wii is the Balance Board wielding Wii Fit, which shifted about 16.37 million units, while Mario Kart Wii sold 15.4 million units, and Animal Crossing: City Folk managed to reach 3.38 million. On the DS, Pokemon Platinum is one of the big sellers, with 3.75 million units bought by gamers.

During the current fiscal year, the Wii is expected to sell 26 million units, while the DS will sell around 30 million units. Both figures are lower than those posted for the previous period, mostly because of the world wide economic downturn.

As far as software goes, the publisher hopes it will sell more than 400 million games for both platforms. The big news is that Nintendo is saying that it expects its profit to actually go down during this year, by about 12%.