Nintendo Cuts Switch Sales Forecast Ahead of Successor Device Launch 

This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)
This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)
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Nintendo Cuts Switch Sales Forecast Ahead of Successor Device Launch 

This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)
This file photo taken on January 16, 2025 shows Nintendo character Mario as an employee (L) walks past in the gaming section for Nintendo Switch products at a shop in Tokyo. (AFP)

Japan's Nintendo cut its full-year sales Switch forecast by 12% to 11 million units as the aging console loses momentum ahead of the launch of a successor device this year.

Nintendo remains dependent on its console business even as it has opened stores and its roster of characters feature in theme parks and films.

"While we think sales of hardware and software are solid for the eighth year, we did not achieve our plan," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an earnings briefing.

Nintendo sold 9.54 million Switch units in the April-December period, bringing lifetime sales to 150.86 million units.

Last month Nintendo said it will release a successor to the hit home-portable Switch console this year with a Nintendo Direct event to air on April 2.

The Switch 2 appears to closely follow the design of its predecessor, which transformed Nintendo's fortunes after the underperformance of the Wii U.

The company lowered its operating profit forecast by 22.2% to 280 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for the financial year ending March.

In the April-December period, profit fell 46.7% to 247.6 billion yen.



Pope Leo Warns Politicians of the Challenges Posed by AI

This handout photograph taken and released by the Vatican Media on June 21 2025, shows Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech as he meets with participants in the Jubilee of the Rulers, in The Vatican. (Handout / Vatican Media / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Vatican Media on June 21 2025, shows Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech as he meets with participants in the Jubilee of the Rulers, in The Vatican. (Handout / Vatican Media / AFP)
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Pope Leo Warns Politicians of the Challenges Posed by AI

This handout photograph taken and released by the Vatican Media on June 21 2025, shows Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech as he meets with participants in the Jubilee of the Rulers, in The Vatican. (Handout / Vatican Media / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Vatican Media on June 21 2025, shows Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech as he meets with participants in the Jubilee of the Rulers, in The Vatican. (Handout / Vatican Media / AFP)

Pope Leo warned politicians on Saturday of the challenges posed by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), addressing its potential impact on younger people as a prime concern.

Speaking at an event attended by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and parliamentary delegations from 68 countries, Leo revisited a topic that he has raised on a number of occasions during the first few weeks of his papacy.

"In particular, it must not be forgotten that artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them or even to replace them," Leo said at an event held as part of the Roman Catholic Jubilee or Holy Year.

AI proponents say it will speed up scientific and technological progress and help people to carry out routine tasks, granting them more time to pursue higher-value and creative work.

The US-born pontiff said attention was needed to protect "healthy, fair and sound lifestyles, especially for the good of younger generations."

He noted that AI's "static memory" was in no way comparable to the "creative, dynamic" power of human memory.

"Our personal life has greater value than any algorithm, and social relationships require spaces for development that far transcend the limited patterns that any soulless machine can pre-package," he said.

Leo, who became pope in May, has spoken previously of the threat posed by AI to jobs and has called on journalists to use it responsibly.