3DS games push Namco Bandai to profitability

Nintendo is slashing the price of its new 3DS system later this month due to underwhelming sales, but the handheld hasn't been completely devoid of success stories. Namco Bandai today released its financial results for the April-June quarter, and the company revealed its three best-selling games for the period all came from the 3DS library.

Topping the publisher's list was the anime-inspired One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP, with 170,000 copies sold. The 3DS remake of Tales of the Abyss was the next best performing game for the publisher, selling 150,000 units. Both of those games have yet to be released outside of Japan. The company's third best seller, Ridge Racer 3DS, has been released globally and managed to move 90,000 copies during the quarter.

Those games were just one piece of the publisher's positive earnings report, as nearly all of the publisher's divisions posted improved sales over the same period the year before. Overall revenues were up nearly 108 percent to ¥88.24 billion ($1.1 billion), while the publisher turned its previous first fiscal quarter's loss of ¥1.64 billion ($21.2 million) into a ¥3.25 billion ($42.1) net profit.

In breaking down the publisher's business by geography, it becomes clear how significantly Namco Bandai relies on its Japanese consumer base. The company's Japanese business posted an operating profit of ¥8.29 billion ($107.4 million) for the quarter, compared to operating losses in Europe and the Americas of ¥581 million ($7.5 million) and ¥1.34 billion ($17.4 million), respectively.