Taking this opportunity, let me also update you on the situation of the software titles for Nintendo platforms which have sold one million units or more.

First, let me explain about the Nintendo DS platform.
As of the end of September this year, the number of Nintendo DS titles which had shipped more than a million units since their launches increased by one from first-party developers, which include Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, to come to a total of 46, and by 10 from third-party developers to equal 79.

Please note that we are counting the different color versions of the same Pokémon title as one title here.

As for Wii, the number of Wii titles which had shipped more than a million units increased by two from first-party developers, which include Nintendo and the Pokémon Company to reach a total of 24 and by three from third-party developers to make it to 60.
One year ago, or at the end of September 2009, the total number of Nintendo DS million-unit sellers was 60.  Since Wii was launched two years later than Nintendo DS, this means that the 60 third-party titles were able to become million-unit sellers on Wii one year earlier than on Nintendo DS.
Among those who are watching only the Japanese market, there must be people who feel that only software from Nintendo can sell well on Wii, even though they may feel differently about Nintendo DS.  When we combine the corresponding data for the third parties’ hit titles from all around the world, however, the third party developers are yielding million-unit sellers faster on Wii than on Nintendo DS.  Just looking at Wii, since there are as many as 60 titles which have sold one million units or more, each one of them must have a hard time to stand out even in the top sales charts.  It may be hard for the general impression of people to change unless Wii third-party software from well-established franchises shows up in the top positions of the software hit charts one after another.  In this regard, the company must make further efforts.  For Nintendo 3DS, I expressed our willingness at Nintendo Conference 2010 to cross this hurdle at an early stage.
With that, I’d like you to see what the software hit charts around the world look like so far this year.

This chart shows the 20 best-selling software titles in the U.S. from January through September of 2010.

Nine titles for Nintendo platforms are included.  Other than “Pokémon HeartGold,” “Pokémon SoulSilver” and “Super Mario Galaxy 2,” the titles included here were all launched last year or earlier.  "New Super Mario Bros." for Nintendo DS was a title which was launched in 2006.  On the contrary, for other companies’ platforms, except for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” all the software titles included in the chart were launched this year.  Nintendo’s platforms, which are home to so many evergreen titles, and other platforms, for which the applicable software is sold mostly in the launch period only, are very contrastive.  What is very unique in the U.S. market is the presence of Xbox 360.  It is not rare for multi-platform titles to make more sales on Xbox 360 than on PS3.  I introduced you to the Wii software called “Just Dance,” which is ranked ninth in the chart, in our Financial Briefing in May this year.  When this software was launched at the end of 2009, the initial sales were not huge.  However, the software has turned out to be such a long-seller.  A number of hit titles on Wii tend to show this type of unique sales pattern.

I’d like to look at the situation in some major European countries.  This is the German software top 20 chart for the period of January to September this year.
As you can see, there are 11 titles for Nintendo platforms.  We should also note the fact that more Nintendo DS titles are included than in the corresponding U.S. chart.  Also unlike the U.S. chart, we cannot find any Xbox 360 software among the top 20 titles.

This is the corresponding chart for France.
There are many titles for Nintendo platforms included, 13 to be more specific.  In this chart too, “Just Dance” from Ubisoft is ranked at the sixth position.  Like in Germany, finding Xbox 360 titles is rare.  When it comes to the multi-platform titles, unlike in the U.S., PS3 has the edge over Xbox 360.

In Spain, there were nine titles for Nintendo platforms.  Traditionally, Sony has shown a very strong presence in this country, and no Xbox 360 titles are found in the chart.

In this chart for the U.K., among all the markets that I introduce today, the smallest number of titles for Nintendo platforms, namely six, are found.  However, “Just Dance” from Ubisoft that I mentioned just a little earlier made it to the top for the first nine-month sales in U.K.  On the other hand, we cannot see any Nintendo DS titles in this top 20 chart.  It looks like U.K. citizens are currently paying more attention to home consoles. 

What is unique about the U.K. is, similar to the U.S., Xbox 360 has a strong presence.  Multi-platform titles are selling more on Xbox 360.  This situation is very different from Germany, France and Spain.

When we see this year’s Japanese software top 20 chart, which covers the period from January up until last week, 13 titles were for Nintendo platforms, but there are no third-party Wii titles included, while a number of third-party titles for Nintendo DS were ranked in this chart.  And, in Japan too, Nintendo platforms have a number of titles with long tails.  A unique aspect unfound in other countries is that many PSP titles are also there.

A month ago we announced the outlook of our mid-term financial results.  And, as I have just explained today, the current situation surrounding Nintendo DS and Wii is not very good in comparison to that of last year.  I understand that there are concerns over the prospects for our upcoming year-end sales.