Nintendo's 2012 profit expectations have slumped as gamers turn away from their hand-held devices.
The loss may be as much as 65 billion yen, or £534 million, compared with an earlier forecast for a loss of 20 billion yen.
A strong yen, combined with a shift towards social media and smart phone gaming, particularly on iPhones, has battered the Japanese company which once led the console gaming industry.
Nintendo will face a huge challenge from Sony Playstation Vita's launch on 2 February 2012. It hopes its magic bullet will be the launch of the Wii U in time for the Christmas shopping season in November 2012.
Nintendo will be looking for ways to claw back profit this year. The company's president Satoru Iwata, who slashed 3DS prices by up to 40 % last year, said he will "soon" start charging 3DS users for downloading add-on content to existing titles.
Apple recently announced massive sales of 37.04 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads during the last quarter alone.
Nintendo 3DS forecasts sales of 14 million 3DS units for the financial year ending March 2012.
Angry Birds, the hugely popular Rovio game was the most popular iPhone app of 2011.
See the top ten retro gaming consoles below.