Mario drops the 6 Golden Coins as Nintendo post $530 million annual loss

Nintendo’s financial woes continue today, with the company posting their first annual net loss in the firm’s history, to the sum of $530 million.

Hardware sales didn’t meet Nintneod’s estiamtes posted three months earlier, which had already been made more modest in the wake of poor consumer interest.

Global sales of the Nintendo 3DS hit 13.51 million units, while the Wii sold 9.84 million units and the DS range sold 5.1 million units. Previous estimates were 14 million 3DS handheld sales , 10 million Wiis and 5.5 million DS consoles. Software sales for the year were 36 million, 102.37 million and 60.82 million units respectively across the 3DS, Wii and DS range.

“While [Nintendo] did post a loss for the recently completed fiscal year, the continuing momentum of the Nintendo 3DS and the global introduction of the highly-anticipated Wii U home console will drive the company back into profitability in the current year,” said the company in a statement accompanying the results, before forecasting a net profit of $245 million for the upcoming year.

Nintendo also stated that from roughly August 2012, the Nintendo 3Ds will no longer be sold below cost, which should also buoy their coffers somewhat.

Things should start looking up a little after the summer though, with the company pointing beyond the imminent Wii U launch to titles like New Super Mario Bros. 2 and new Brain Age games.