Mario Kart 8 impresses, but fails to jump-start Wii U sales

Mario Kart 8 is selling tremendously well, but unfortunately it's not the system seller Nintendo was probably hoping it'd be.

According to Nintendo's latest financial report, Mario Kart 8 has sold 2.82 million units globally since its launch in May. The problem is that most of these sales likely came from current Wii U owners as Nintendo sold just 510,000 consoles from April to June, while enduring a 9.924 billion yen ($97.2 million) net loss during the quarter.

Life-to-date, the Wii U has now sold 6.68 million units worldwide since its launch in November 2012. Nintendo still expects to hit its target of 3.6 million units through the fiscal year, while still predicting a year-end profit of around ¥40bn.

In its financial report, Nintendo made note of key Wii U game releases planned from summer to the end of this calendar year. Included in the list was Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 and, of course, Super Smash Bros. which is also coming to 3DS.