Nintendo said Tuesday its operating profit soared, following strong demand for Wii U console games including "Splatoon", but holiday sales fell hit its bottom line. The company said operating profit in the April-December period jumped nearly 35 percent to 42.5 billion yen ($352 million). But revenue was down almost four percent as holiday season sales weakened owing to a lack of new games releases.Net profit tumbled 32 percent, largely due to the fading benefit of a weak yen, it said.

During the nine month period ended December 31, 2015, for Nintendo 3DS, "New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL," both of which launched during the previous period as the newest members of the Nintendo 3DS family, made up the bulk of the Nintendo 3DS hardware sales. As for the Nintendo 3DS software, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer became a hit by selling 2.93 million units globally, while in overseas markets, popular titles such as Pokémon Omega Ruby/Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DSshowed steady sales.

In the Japanese market, titles such as Rhythm Tengoku (Japanese title) and Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/Conquest gained popularity. In addition, some third-party titles sold over a million units as well.

As a result, the global sales of the Nintendo 3DS hardware and software were 5.88 million and 38.87 million units respectively.

With respect to Wii U, Splatoon sold 4.06 million units and Super Mario Maker sold 3.34 million units, making both titles blockbusters that vitalized the Wii U platform. In addition, Yoshi's Woolly World, which was released during this period, and evergreen titles released in the previous period such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U showed steady sales.

The global sales of the Wii U hardware and software reached 3.06 million and 22.62 million units respectively.

For amiibo, the figure-type and the card-type sold approximately 20.50 million units and approximately 21.50 million units, respectively, and the platform showed strong performance globally without losing momentum. Furthermore, sales of additional download content for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U increased and total download sales reached 30.5 billion yen.

Nintendo is gearing up for the March release of its first foray into smartphone gaming, after years of refusing to stray from a consoles-only policy.

Nintendo is projecting a net profit of 35 billion yen on sales at 570 billion yen for the fiscal year to March.