Nintendo's Iwata claims Wii U sales 'not bad'

Sales of the Wii U at the end of the holiday season are 'not bad', according to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Nintendo's newest console launched in November but has since failed to reach the sales figures recorded by the Wii.

Iwata claimed that while there are still plenty of Wii U's in stock it is selling steadily.

"At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn't as though stores in the US had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom," Iwata told Reuters.

"But sales are not bad, and I feel it's selling steadily."

Iwata believes that the low number of Premium units available in stores might have put consumers off purchasing the console.

"It was the first time Nintendo released two models of the game console at the same time and I believe there was a challenge with balancing this.

"Specifically, inventory levels for the premium, deluxe package was unbalanced as many people wanted that version and couldn't find it."

Current sales figures for the Wii U are yet to be revealed, but in its opening week it shifted 300,000 units in Japan and 400,000 units in North America.