Nintendo Co. President Tatsumi Kimishima tried to assure investors the company's March mobile gaming debut is worth waiting for, even as a 36 percent plunge in quarterly profit highlighted a downward spiral in sales of Wii U and 3DS players.
Nintendo said it will release its Miitomo game for mobile devices next month as anticipated, setting the stage for its biggest shake-up since the 1970s. The company has been forced to acknowledge an industrywide shift toward mobile gaming, while Nintendo's traditional console business, anchored by legendary hits like Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong, struggles.
Net income was ¥29.1 billion ($241 million) in the three months to December after Wii U sales dropped 2.1 percent and those of the 3DS handheld player plunged 28 percent. The stock fell 2 percent at the Tokyo trading break after a briefing to analysts yielded no news on its next console, code-named NX, and small developments on Miitomo.