Nintendo 3DS sales top 17.13 million
Japanese firm posts first ever annual loss.
17.13 million 3DS consoles have now been sold worldwide, Nintendo has announced. The figure covers all sales up to the end of March 2012.
That means a healthy two million more 3DS units have been sold in the last three months. A previous tally of 15.03 million was jotted down at the end of last year.
Even the company's aging Wii coughed out another million units. It has now sold 95.85 million, up from 94.97 million on New Year's Eve 2011.
Several 3DS games scored huge sales numbers, with Nintendo's superb Super Mario 3D Land still the best-selling title on the system. It has notched up an impressing 5.84 million sales since its launch last November, but only 800,000 more this year.
Mario Kart 7 is close behind - it has sold 5.24 million, up from 4.54 million in the months of January through March.
Excellent Zelda port Ocarina of Time is now on 2.61 million sold, mediocre spin-off Pokémon Rumble has captured 1.08 million and feline friendly Nintendogs + Cats has managed 2.80 million (across all three versions).
Nintendo has, as previously expected, posted an overall loss for the financial year, its first. The company lost 43.2 billion yen (£329.14m), a figure partly blamed on the poor overseas performance of the Japanese currency.
The company expects to sell more 3DS and Wii consoles this year than last, and has forecasted a return to profitability for the current financial year. Nintendo's margins should also be helped by the upcoming Wii U console, expected to launch by Christmas.
