In a bid to turn around huge losses, Nintendo has confirmed the Wii U will indeed hit shelves before Christmas 2012.

During an earnings call in Japan, company chief Satoru Iwata broke the news we all suspected and announced that the Wii U will ship late in the year to prominent regions, the UK included.

Following its debut at E3 2011, the Wii U has quietly plodded along in the shadow of Ninty's struggle to get 3DS sales up to scratch.

The firm's frontman had previously promised a final Wii U build would be on show at E3 2012.

Still no exact launch date was mooted, but you can be sure Ninty fans will lap it up during Christmas. The only question is how long will it be before Microsoft and Sony release their respective next-gen consoles and just how much will they blow Nintendo's efforts out the water?

The Xbox '720' is rumoured to be roughly six times faster than the current-gen Xbox model. In comparison, the Wii U is said to be just twice the speed, Develop reports.

Ninty may be able to muster a good 12 months in terms of profits - certainly better than the giant loss of the year just gone - but with smartphones muscling in on the handheld market as well as competition from the usual suspects, the Japanese firm will have to pull out all the stops to keep up the pace. The road ahead could be a rocky one. ®