Japanese gaming company Nintendo managed to ship a sizable number of its 3DS three-dimensional mobile gaming consoles last week despite disappointing results throughout the past few quarters.

Research firm Enterbrain said that the company sold 214,821 3DS units in Japan last week. This is the highest number of units shipped since the last week of February, when the company first debuted the 3DS in the nation and managed to sell 371,326 devices.

“Nintendo sold 214,821 3DS units in Japan last week, the most since 371,326 units in the last week of February, when the 3DS was introduced, the Tokyo-based researcher [Enterbrain] said in a statement today. Nintendo cut the price of the 3DS to 15,000 yen ($195) on Aug. 11 from 25,000 yen.”

Nintendo shipped a total of  4.3 million 3DS’s worldwide as of the end of July, but the device still did not live up to the expectations of being the product that will overturn the company’s decline in recent months. That’s why the focus shifted towards the upcoming Wii U. Until then though, the company announced that a revamped Wii package will hit the U.K by Christmas.

Indeed, the Nintendo 3DS didn’t turn out to be as popular as some people forecasted. The competition from more affordable mobile games was expected, but the device’s unique hardware layout was touted as a definitive advantage over smartphones from the gamer’s point of view by the New York Times itself.

Positive initial sales helped to fuel the buzz around the 3DS even further, however consumers were not so excited.  Sales of the portable console drops by four times to only 700,000 in Q2, 2011, and the company was quick to respond with its 40 percent price cut.

On the broad picture, even though the discount provided a temporary boost to sales, Nintendo will need to adapt to the current trends in the game industry. Profits from the fiscal year ended March 31 dropped 66 percent compared to the previous year, meaning the company will need to pull its act together soon.