Following the launch of the Wii U last autumn, Nintendo has seen less than expected sales for its first console in six years. The low sales have resulted in the Japanese company cutting its profit forecast for its fiscal year ending March 31.

Citing the sales of 3 million Wii U consoles since its launch, Nintendo has cut its operating loss to $220 million (20 billion yen) and net income of just $1.20 per share for the fiscal year. Revenue has been slashed from $8.91 billion (810 billion yen) to $7.37 billion (670 billion yen), with two months left for its fiscal year. Nintendo doesn't provide quarterly earnings numbers.

Continuing through the year, Nintendo is expecting to sell only 1 million Wii Us during the March quarter and 15 million 3DS units for the year, cutting from its original prediction of 17.5 million. This brings 4 million total Wii Us for the fiscal year, rather than the 5.5 million project the company originally predicted.

While all of us at Pocket-lint seem to be fans of the Wii U for its radical approach to gaming, the market doesn't seem to agree. In the first few months of the console's launch, sales didn't seem as impressive as one would think.

In Nintendo's homeland of Japan, the company saw an impressive few weeks, but sales started to drop off in the fourth week with only 76,760 Wii Us sold during the week. 

And for the US, Nintendo didn't provide specific sales figures perhaps indicating low figures, but did say Wii U sales were "steady" to close out the year. 

Nintendo has a lot betting on its Wii U console as Microsoft and Sony gear up to launch their next-generation consoles later this year. Low sales could mean a grim future for the once-dominant gaming company.