Nintendo's latest set of financial results show that 3DS sales are continuing to grow, up 11 percent against the same period last year.

The 3DS has now sold 29.84 million units worldwide.

Interestingly, its predecessor, the Nintendo DS, had sold 26.82 million units at the same stage in its lifecycle.

It's slightly misleading to compare the two tallies directly, however, since the DS launch was a much more staggered affair than the 3DS, which enjoyed near simultaneous releases in key territories.

Green shoots

Sales of 3DS software are up 41 percent year-on-year, helped along by new titles such as New Super Mario Bros. 2, which has sold 5.96 million units worldwide since its July 2012 launch.

The figures suggest a positive outlook for Nintendo's portable console – a system that many had already written off after its shaky start and drastic price cut.

However, all this growth hasn't stopped Nintendo from downgrading its sales forecast for the 3DS. In July 2012, Nintendo was forecasting 18.5 million 3DS sales for the financial year ending March 2013.

Now, that figure has been revised downwards to 15 million.

It's the same story for 3DS software. Back in July, Nintendo forecasted 73 million 3DS software sales for the financial year. Now, it's forecasting 50 million.

Not enough

In a statement, Nintendo noted that the ground gained by the 3DS was "not enough to offset decreased sales of Wii and Nintendo DS hardware and software."

But the performance of its ageing hardware isn't the only issue affecting Nintendo's bottom line.

The Wii U's retail performance has been underwhelming to date – selling 3.06 million units between its November 2012 launch and the start of 2013.

As such, the company has stepped back from its very public ambition to sell 5.5 million Wii U consoles by the end of its financial year, adjusting the figure to 4 million instead.

[source: Nintendo]