Leaking almost double its operating losses during the first quarter of its fiscal year, compared with the same period ago, the shadow of Nintendo's financial woes continues to blot out its E3 2014 promise and invoke investor pessimism.
To be blunt, the highly successful Mario Kart 8 doesn't appear to be helping Nintendo pull out of its four-year slump.
For the quarter ending in June 2014, Nintendo reported its net income was in the red by 9.92 billion yen, roughly $97 million. While it rebounded a bit from a loss of 17.19 billion yen in Q3 of 2012 to a gain of 8.62 billion yen in Q3 of 2013, the Japanese gamemaker's operating income loss of 4.9 billion yen in Q3 of 2012 nearly doubled to 9.47 billion during the latest quarter.
While Mario Kart 8 has given Nintendo and the Wii U a much-needed boost, it can't do it all. The beloved carting game has sold 2.82 million since its launch on May 30, 2014, which has helped move 350,000 more Wii U units than the 160,000 Nintendo shipped in its third quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The release dates of Wii U's first-party games, however, has remained too inconsistent to continue the drive forward Mario Kart 8 has started, as Nintendo pursues its forecast goal of moving 3.6 million Wii U consoles by the end of the its 2015 fiscal year, Wedbush Securities Analyst Michael Pachter said to investors.
The much-anticipated Bayonetta 2 was slated on Nintendo's Q3 report for a release sometime in October of 2014 and Smash Bros. Wii U was tentatively pinned for a holiday 2014 release, while gamers hungering for a new Zelda or Starfox release must wait until an unspecified time in 2015.
While the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have been suffering their own game delays, the two consoles have been thriving off indie releases and a healthy plate of cross-platform titles. The Wii U hasn't been able to enjoy the bulk of multiplatform games -- even multiplatform games that have been developed for the Wii U have suffered delays specific to Nintendo's console.
The weight of Nintendo's struggles hasn't all been placed on the Wii U, as 2013's best-selling gaming device has even fallen under scrutiny by investors and analysts. Sales of Nintendo's 3DS were said to have dropped to 820,000 during its latest quarter, after selling approximately 1.4 million during the same time period a year earlier.
There has been a bright spot for Nintendo's management. The company's ailing CEO, Satoru Iwata, has been nearing a full return to work. After missing E3 2014, Iwata addressed investors via email in June 2014.
"I have already resumed my business by email and by other means, but it is anticipated that a little more time is needed for me to return to my regular work schedule," Iwata said in the email.
