Nintendo posted a quarterly profit of 24.2 billion yen, or $224 million, and expressed confidence about the 2014 holiday shopping season, with demand for Mario Kart 8 and the upcoming Super Smash Bros. providing a boost to the company’s Wii U console.
The company, which has been struggling to keep pace with Sony and Microsoft, sold 610,000 Wii U consoles and 80,000 Wii consoles (690,000 total) for the September quarter, according to numbers derived from Nintendo’s first-half financial results.
By comparison, Microsoft sold 2.4 million Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles over the same time period. Sony reports its PlayStation sales for the September quarter later this week.
Nintendo said in its earnings release that the Wii U “has been experiencing improved sales momentum” since the release of Mario Kart 8 in May. Another boost is expected to come from scheduled debut of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in November in the U.S., and December in Japan and Europe.
“It is the first year-end sales season for Wii U in which two big Nintendo titles will be available” for the console, the company said in its earnings release.
Nintendo, which has its North American headquarters in Redmond, is also slated to launch its NFC-enabled amiibo figurines for the holidays. By placing the figurine on the Wii U GamePad, the NFC technology allows data to be transferred from the toy directly into the game, unlocking content and other features.
