As both CEO Howard Lincoln and Vice President Peter Main told us, Nintendo had a very good year - "the best year we've had," said Lincoln, "and that was in spite of product delays." With sales of US$5.5 billion in 1997 and projections of $6.2 billion in 1998, Nintendo was happy to talk about its success and market share.

　　Nintendo claimed a 48.8 percent share in the 64-bit market, to Sony's 47.1 and Saturn's paltry 4.1 percent - hardware and software revenues combined (in the 32/64 bit category).

　　But as Main stresses, the real domination came in the 16-bit and portable markets, where the SNES held a 67.5 percent share to the Genesis' 32.5, and the Game Boy claimed a hefty 85.8 percent market share. As was pointed out again and again, while Sony and Nintendo may be neck and neck in the 64-bit market, the continued sales in the 16-bit and portable markets allow Nintendo to claim the lead in the video games race overall.

　　Additionally, Main reiterated the "quality vs. quantity" motto and pointed to the unadjusted TRSTS data, which listed six of the top ten selling titles of 1997 as Nintendo products: 1. Mario Kart, 2. Star Fox, 3. Super Mario 64, 4. Diddy Kong Racing, 5. GoldenEye, 8. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.