Asriel on 12 January 2013
There are a few tidbits of data that could have helped.
Present success like 3DS's booming sales in Japan, and a strong December in the US will have helped. Wii U has consistently been treated as a product that will not find a market by many analysts, so the reasonable sales will have helped there.
I think a couple of factors that may have helped were some of Iwata's recent comments in Japan: 500,000 digital sales of Animal Crossing at full price, and comments about Nintendo being open to pursuing the free-to-play business model with a new IP, are good signs for the long-term expansion of Nintendo's business. Furthermore, the weakening yen is good news for every export led Japanese business.
