Nintendo announced their quarterly results today, and while they were still head and shoulders above Microsoft and Sony, even they are starting to feel the effects of the bummed economy. However, one analyst thinks that Nintendo hasn’t been as good about releasing “novel” games (Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, etc.) recently, which is why Nintendo saw their profits take a 60 percent tumble in their first fiscal quarter.

“There hasn’t been a novel announcement by Nintendo lately,” Koki Shiraishi, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd, told Bloomberg. “My attention is on whether Nintendo can make the most of its uniqueness to release a strong product before the year-end shopping season.”

Wii sales for Nintendo’s first quarter were down 56.8 percent worldwide — selling only 2.23 million Wiis, compared to 5.17 in last year’s first quarter. Nintendo blamed a lack of big hits coming out this quarter for the declining sales.

“There were fewer blockbuster software titles that briskly drove hardware sales this quarter versus the same period a year ago when titles like “Mario Kart Wii” and “Wii Fit” were launched in overseas markets,” the company said.

Nintendo believes that next quarter will provide a boost to their sales, with Wii Sports Resorts helping move hardware units, as well as sell gangbusters to the existing Wii installed base. The company maintained that it will sell 26 million additional units worldwide by the end of their fiscal year, which ends March 2010.

Sitting here as an armchair analyst, I’m not sure how they meet their Wii sales target without a drop in price. Wii Sports Resorts will definitely help, but Nintendo hasn’t been as solid about delivering new, crazy products that get people excited. Sure, they announced the Vitality Sensor, but they haven’t shown off any games that support it yet — so it’s a completely unknown quantity. We’ll have to see what happens later this year, to see if Nintendo gives into the pressure and drops the Wii’s price.