Nintendo were profitable then, even though they sell like crap cakes.

Even when Nintendo's home consoles are not doing so good (N64 and Gamecube) they always are dominating the hadheld market and have done so since the launch of the Game Boy in 1989.  I'm pretty sure that Game & Watch did pretty good before that, I know I had one as a kid.  Also since Nintendo has been around since 1889 its older then Sony and Microsoft combined.

I think it has to do with the fact that out of the big 3, Nintendo is the only one whose revenue comes entirely from video games. If video games cease to exist, so does Nintendo. Microsoft will continue to make billions from their core Windows/Office business and Sony will continue to struggle with their electronics business (but will undoubtedly still be alive).

They also get revenue from playing cards, game-related merchandise and animated features.

Plus, they get other income via little-known subsidiaries like Mobiclip and the point-of-sale tracking service, Siras. Sony are customers of both.

You do realize that Nintendo has been around since 1889 and they didn't get into  video games until 1974.  I'm sure they have enough cash reserves to go into something else if by some reason video games stop existing in the future.

Well MS never lost money overall they have always been profitable even when they lost some money from their gaming division.

yes i also wonder pretty often because nintendo made even with the less successful consoles a profit so selling maybe less consoles next gen doesn't have to be horrible for nintendo.

maybe it's because nintendo needs success in gaming, microsoft is never doomed if gaming would do horrible as long as other stuff is fine. sony has also other important devisions so if they would be fine sony could also live with a bad gaming devision for some time but atm sony could really need financial success in gaming which they maybe have atm, no clue.

I think the only thing missing from the OP is the amount of profit Nintendo have made from the Wii and DS. Even though Wii probably faded a little prematurely many people seem to forget/be unaware of just how much money Nintendo were making between 2006-10.

Because the Wii U will suck? jokes I dunno Tbh I see more sony ones and that annoys me -_-

Great thread and superb research!

This is how it is: gaming journalists aren't really journalists - they're all fan boys in one way or another. They usually get caught up in their own hypes. It's the cool thing to bash Nintendo because the 'journalists' are gamers, and Nintendo didn't do as well with N64 and and GC as they once had. During this era the Internet also grew and reviews started to go online, coexiding with the diminishing power of Nintendo. Then came the Wii, which didn't cater to gamers as much as it did to casuals. And since game journalists are gamers they couldn't coup with this and didn't accept it.

All in all; game journalists as biased motherfuckers and don't deserve to be called journalists!!