Nintendo sinks to loss on lagging Wii U sales

TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo Co. sank to a loss for the fiscal year ended March as sales of its Wii U game machine continued to lag.

The Japanese manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games said Wednesday it will return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2015.

Kyoto-based Nintendo recorded a 23.2 billion yen ($229 million) loss for the last fiscal year, a reversal from a 7 billion yen profit it eked out the previous year.

Annual sales fell 10 percent to 571.7 billion yen ($5.6 billion). It did not break down quarterly numbers.

Wii U sales have fallen short of company forecasts.

Sales projections have been lowered repeatedly as users around the world increasingly switch to smartphones and other devices to play games.