Overall sales expectations down for hardware and software, but Nintendo expects weak yen to be advantageous for the company.

Lower than expected sales of the Wii U has caused Nintendo to cut sales forecasts of the fledgling console by 27 percent for its current financial year, down to 4 million units sold from its initial expectation of 5.5 million.

The gaming giant expects to make a net profit of ¥14 billion ($2.2 billion) for its current financial year--which ends in March 2013--as opposed to the ¥43 billion ($6.9 billion) loss it suffered last year.

Nintendo also revised its sales forecasts for the Wii, 3DS and DS, with the 3DS sales expected to reach 15 million by the end of March.

The company also expects to suffer a loss on its operating income, but expects an overall profit thanks to an advantageous exchange rate due to the currently weak yen.

3.06 million Wii U consoles and 11.69 million Wii U games have been sold worldwide since since the hardware's launch last November, with 1.32 million going to North America, 900,000 to Europe and 830,000 to Japan.

The most popular Wii U games, perhaps unsurprisingly, were Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U, with 2.33 million and 2.01 million sold respectively.

Pokemon Black and White 2 managed to notch up 7.63 million sales worldwide since its Japanese launch in June, so the publisher be likely be particularly keen to see how the new, 3DS-exclusive Pokemon X and Y fares when it's launched globally in October 2013.

Last week Nintendo announced a new Zelda title and a new 3D Mario to bolster the Wii U's lineup.

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