Nintendo have posted a loss in its latest financial statement, with sales of the Wii U being a big disappointment.

In the last 12 months the console only sold 2.7 million consoles, which brings the total hardware sales to 6.17 million since its launch back in November 2012. For comparison, consider last month Sony announced that the PS4 had managed a sales figure of 7 million units since its launch in November 2013. Microsoft also announced last month that it had shipped 5 million consoles to retailers.

The poor sales have meant Nintendo are forecasting a sales figure of approximately 3.6 million in the next financial year. The sales of the console could well be boosted by the upcoming release of Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Wii U being highlighted as two key drivers, whilst promising “to supply high quality games on a continuous basis.”

The increase in software sales is a key point for Nintendo, as there has been a markdown in the U.S and Europe for the console, but software sales did not grow enough to counteract this, and Nintendo posted an operating loss of 46.4 billion yen (£269m /$457 million).

Nintendo did note that three first-party titles for the console had managed to break the 1 million sales mark: Mario 3D World, New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U.

Overall, Nintendo posted a loss of 23.2 billion yen (£135m/ $229m), a change from the 7 billion yen (£41m/ $70m) profit made last year. This is due to a 10 percent drop in sales from last year, down to 572 billion yen (£3.3 billion/ $5.6 billion).

Elsewhere, the 3DS still performed well, shifting 12 million units across all its versions, and is predicted a similar performance for next year. The console has currently hit 43.3 million units sold across its lifetime.

As with the Wii U, a number of games got a shout out for their good performances, particularly Pokémon X and Y, which have shifted a combined total of 12.26 million sales. Other games of note include Luigi’s Mansion 2, Mario & Luigi Dream Team and Zelda: A Link Between Worlds which all hit the 2 million sales mark.

What are your thoughts on the Wii U’s performance and what do you think could be improved? How will Nintendo turn this loss around?