Sales 
numbers for the Wii U might be terrible, but Nintendo would like to remind you that it hasn’t always had a hard time selling stuff.
Over the course of its 30 years as a video game company, Nintendo has sold nearly 269 million consoles and more than 385 million handheld units, according to the company’s just released annual report.
Pikmin 
3 is taking root with critics.
The oft-delayed, heavily-anticipated, uber-cute strategy title hit retail shelves this weekend in the U.S., and gamers — even the most jaded — are smitten.
The game currently boasts an 87 rating on Metacritic, making it one of the five best reviewed console games of 2013 and the highest rated title to come out for the Wii U thus far.
If 
a group of fans get their wish, the Regginator could be headed to the next Super Smash Bros.
A petition asking Nintendo to add Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO of Nintendo of America, to the fighting game’s roster is gathering steam, having collected over 23,000 of the targeted 25,000 electronic signatures. And a Twitter campaign supporting that petition is proving popular as well.
Nintendo’s 
Wii U woes are dire.
As part of a quarterly earnings announcement Wednesday, Nintendo said that in the three-month period ending June 30, consumers worldwide bought just 160,000 units of its next-generation console.
Nintendo 
has endured more than its share of bumps and bruises recently, but the company’s fortunes might be turning around.
Shares of the Kyoto-based video game maker hit a two-year high today, jumping 4 percent as traders in Japan speculated that strong 3DS sales numbers in the U.S. could help the company’s overall bottom line.
Thirty 
years ago, Nintendo’s rise to the top of the video game console world began.
Sure, Atari may have started the home video game revolution, but it was Nintendo’s Famicom that took it to the next level, laying the groundwork for the industry as we know it today. That system, which was released two years later in America under the more familiar “Nintendo Entertainment System,” made home gaming cool again.
Let’s 
get this out of the way up front. Yes, you never, ever count Nintendo out of the game.
That’s the go-to response for pretty much anyone in this industry when asked if the company will be able to dig itself out of the hole the Wii U has created – and it’s usually a valid one. (Think back to the GameCube days and things were just as dire as they seem today – but it managed to turn things around.)
But as we head into the Wii U’s second holiday season, the pessimism about the system is starting to crest. And despite Nintendo’s push of first party software coming in the next year, there’s nothing to suggest that a turnaround of any sort is imminent.
Video 
game publishers and developers have spent the better part of this week at E3 trying to wow the often-jaded gamer with new installments of favorite franchises, games they’ve never heard of before and plenty of sizzle reels.
They’ve done a pretty good job, too, judging by feedback on gaming forums.
While 
the video game industry was optimistic going into E3, the investment community was a bit more skeptical.
Certainly, the introduction of new consoles would give shares of the sector a boost, but would it be enough to bring back the glory days? Analysts were uncertain. But as E3 draws to a close, some of those industry observers have become more optimistic about the next 12 months and beyond.
While 
the Wii U hasn’t lived up to sales expectations and some important video game publishers have severely pulled back their support of the company, Nintendo’s global CEO isn’t looking to shift blame.
Unlike many executives who might obfuscate the issue with corporate doublespeak or finger-pointing, Satoru Iwata is blunt in his assessment of the company’s recent troubles.
Chris Morris: Journalist 