Nintendo's latest home console off to a slow start for 2013 in the United States; weekly performance worse than any recorded week for current-gen systems.

Research firm NPD Group yesterday announced that Wii U sales for February in the United States were up 40 percent on a weekly basis over January's figures, believed to be 57,000 units. If this is true, then the Wii U's performance in February was better, but not by much, totaling around 64,000 units for the month.

Gamasutra points out that the Wii U's performance in February, when averaged out by week, is worse than any recorded week for the current generation of consoles (Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3).

Microsoft was the only platform holder to announce February hardware sales, trumpeting an industry-leading 302,000 units sold during the month and its 26th straight month as the top seller in the United States.

The Wii U has officially sold just over 3 million units by the end of December. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata previously apologized for a lack of software support for the system, while GameStop executive Rob Lloyd said he believes the system needs a blockbuster to spark sales.

Nintendo has a number of high-profile Wii U games in development, including next week's Lego City Undercover. Beyond that, new Mario Kart, Zelda, and Smash Bros. games, among others, are coming to the platform.

Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto said this week that he is not worried yet about the long-term sales potential for the Wii U.

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