:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48707761/WiiU_Splatoon_scrn07_E3.0.jpg)
Nintendo suffered another sharp loss in profit for its fiscal quarter ending in December, but saw good news in the sales performance of Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, calling them "blockbusters that vitalized the Wii U platform."
Additionally, at a briefing Tuesday in Osaka, Nintendo teased a second title for its upcoming mobile games initiative, one that will feature one of its best known characters.
The bad news for Nintendo: Profits declined 36 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. That lack of performance is seen in the slowing sales of the Wii U, down slightly at 2.1 percent from the preceding quarter, and in the 3DS line, down 28 percent.
Yet Nintendo still posted an overall profit, both for the quarter and the nine months comprising its current fiscal year. Nintendo is also sticking to its earlier estimates in revenue, operating profit and net profit for its fiscal year, which closes in three months. So there seems to be a moot point feeling about traditional measures as Nintendo approaches a shakeup 2016, which will see the launch of its first title for mobile devices, Miitomo, in March, and potentially a new console by the end of the year.
Roughly speaking, the company is asking investors to be patient.
Miitomo will be a free-to-play social media communication app, drawing on Nintendo's Mii architecture dating back a decade on the Wii. Its second game, according to chief executive Tatsumi Kimishima, "will not be a communication app.
"We are going to pick some intellectual property that is very well known to everyone," Kimishima said, according to Bloomberg.
Among typical quarterly measurements, Nintendo has something to brag about with Splatoon and Super Mario Maker. Splatoon pushed over the 4 million units sold mark, after launching in late May. Super Mario Maker, which launched in September, stands at 3.34 million units as of Dec. 31. These are the No. 6 and 7 best-selling titles for Wii U made by Nintendo to date. (Super Smash Bros., which launched September 2014, is No. 5 at 4.61 million units on Wii U.)
To date, the Wii U has sold 12.6 million units since its November 2012 launch, and the Nintendo 3DS line has sold 57.94 million units. The first 3DS launched in February 2011.
