Nintendo sold 3.4 million Wii consoles worldwide between March and September 2011, and 3 million 3DS units. During the same period last year it sold 5 million Wii's and built plenty of hype over the 3DS.
Nintendo mostly blamed this on the lack of "hit titles," particularly for the 3DS (although it mentioned The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D as a million-unit seller). But Nintendo has also struggled to gain interest in the 3DS, even after slashing the price to $170 from $250 just four months after its release. If you're still on the fence, check out PCMag's full review of the Nintendo 3DS, which picked up an Editor's Choice award.
By the end of the year, Nintendo will release a number of highly anticipated games, like Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Kart 7, Pokemon Rumble Blast, and Super Mario Land 3D. Furthermore, it is rolling out significant updates to the 3DS, its president said last week, as well as adding Hulu Plus support to both the Wii and the 3DS. Recently, however, Nintendo said it is not developing games for iOS.
Nintendo also attributed losses to an unfavorable exchange rate; the company was forced to take a 52.4 billion yen ($690.5 million) foreign exchange loss, which actually accounted for 75 percent of its overall operating loss.
As a result, Nintendo said it would make its first ever annual net loss this financial year, according to Reuters. The Japanese manufacturer expects to make up for much of that during the lucrative holiday season.
Last week NPD Group said Microsoft's Xbox 360 was still the most popular game console in the U.S., having sold 438,000 consoles in September alone for 42 percent of the market. Nintendo boasted that lifetime sales of its DS line of products have now surpassed 50 million units.
Perhaps things will pick up next year, when the next-generation Wii, the Wii U, hits stores at some point after April 1. See PCMag's hands on with the Wii U and the slideshow below for more.
For more from Sara, follow her on Twitter @sarapyin.
