Nintendo Co. Ltd. reported a 35 percent loss in profits for the past fiscal year, mainly due to the strength of the Japanese yen consuming earnings from sales of Pokemon software and paraphernalia. However, Nintendo forecast a sharp profit recovery starting on April 1, paradoxically due to expected upcoming sales of more Game Boy and Pokemon products.

　　The company has also forecast a 46.3 percent jump in sales for the upcoming year, due to the release of the Game Boy Advance toward the end of 2000. Nintendo further declared that it had sold 17.45 million Game Boy consoles and 67.71 million Game Boy cartridges worldwide during the past fiscal year, also due to the unyielding popularity of Pokemon. Forty-four percent of Nintendo's total revenue last year came from Game Boy sales, taking Nintendo to a 90 percent share of the hand-held game market in Japan and a 99 percent share in North America and Europe.

　　Hirotoshi Murakami, an analyst at Kokusai Securities, said that with the sales of Nintendo 64 products on a steady decline, "The main profit generator for Nintendo is now Game Boy." Nintendo director and general manager Hiroshi Imanishi says that the continuing success of the Game Boy will allow the company to focus on the launch of the new 128-bit Dolphin system, which could be pushed back to a March 2001 release.