1. Nintendo

FY08 Revenue: $16,858M (including hardware), +106% (Rank: 1)
FY08 Profit/Loss: $2,595M (Rank: 1)
FY08 Software Revenue: $5,968M, +85% (operating profit/loss unknown)
FY09 Revenue Expectations: $17,300M (including hardware), +5%
Titles in Global Top 100: 12 (Rank: 2)
Units in Global Top 100: 29.2M (Rank: 2)
Review Average: 75.1% (Rank: 2)



Explanation of ranking: In the past year Nintendo dominated the top 10 software, recording extremely high revenues and profits. Finances aside for the moment, Nintendo's games are defining this generation. As other publishers rush out copycat games, Nintendo shows how to update old ideas, introduce new ones, and make a some cash in the process.

Nintendo's strength in software is built upon the foundation of two dominant hardware platforms, the Wii console and the Nintendo DS handheld. Nintendo titles made 38 appearances on the NPD Group's monthly Top 10 Console and Handheld Software list in the twelve months from April 2007 to March 2008. The software/controller combination known as Wii Play has claimed one on those spots in the top 10 each month since its launch sixteen months ago. Moreover, four Nintendo titles appeared in NPD's list for Top 10 Software Sales in 2007 – only four games totaling nearly 11 million units of software.

Those figures, of course, are just for the United States. Globally the Wii and Nintendo DS have moved massive amounts of software, much of it published by Nintendo itself. In its latest annual report Nintendo showed nearly $6 billion in software revenue (some of which comes from licensing other companies to publish on its hardware platforms).

For the coming year, Nintendo expects its revenues to rise to $17.3 billion (for hardware and software combined). Its net profit is expected to rise to $3.1 billion.

NEXT: Criteria explained