While the Wii U's sales may be a stark disappointment to Nintendo, it still found hope in its handheld lineup, with particular thanks to the western release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Sales of the 3DS and its titles helped boost the company to a profit in the first quarter of its fiscal year.
The 3DS sold 1.4 million units globally from April to June, Nintendo reported, of which nearly one million were sales of the 3DS XL. Titles such as Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon certainly helped the platform and Nintendo's bottom line as well.
New Leaf sold 1.19 million copies outside of Japan in a little less than one month. Luigi's Mansion pushed 1.43 million copies overall, with 950,000 of that coming from the west, and Tomodachi Collection sold 1.39 million, all of it in Japan.
Those were the only three million-selling titles listed by the company in its earnings, but they speak to the health and quality of Nintendo's handheld offerings. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D may not have pushed a million but the company listed it as a highlight; the game released in mid-June in Japan after a late May launch in the West.
The original DS line continues to add a trickle of revenue to Nintendo's bottom line, selling 60,000 units worldwide even if the company no longer forecasts sales for that device. Nintendo had seen a loss of about $176 million in the same quarter last year; this year it showed an $88 million profit for the first quarter. After two consecutive years of losses, company president Satoru Iwata set a goal of a ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion) profit by the end of March 2014.
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