Shares of Nintendo Co, the world's second-largest maker of video-game consoles, rose 2.9 percent after Electronic Arts Inc said it will make 20 titles for the Japanese gamemaker's Game-Cube console.
The comments allayed concerns that Electronic Arts, the largest US maker of video games, would make fewer titles for the GameCube after the machine failed to meet Nintendo's sales forecast.
In January, Electronic Arts chief executive Lawrence Probst told analysts the company would review the number of sports games it designs for Nintendo's console.
Nintendo shares have fallen to their lowest level since May 1997 after game developers including Electronic Arts and Sega Corp said they planned to cut the num-ber of sports games they make for the GameCube.
Investors interpreted Electronic Arts' announcement as a renewed commitment to support the console, analysts said.
"Everyone was worried game developers were pulling back from the GameCube, so this is good news for Nintendo," said Soichiro Fukuda, an analyst with Nikko Salomon Smith Barney Securities Co.
The announcement encouraged buyers after Nintendo shares fell below Japanese Yen 9,000 yesterday, Fukuda said.
Nintendo's shares rose Japanese Yen 250 to 8,990 in Osaka, with 998,500 shares traded, almost double their six-month daily average.
The Topix Index fell 2.5 percent to 796.17. Shares of Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts rose US$1.15 to US$53.94 as of 4pm New York time in NASDAQ Stock Market trading.
The 20 games Electronic Arts will provide for the GameCube include the "Madden NFL 2004" football game, "FIFA 2004" soccer game and "Tiger Woods PGA TOUR" golf game.
Electronic Arts said it will also work with Nintendo to create games that share data between the GameCube and Nintendo's portable game player called Game Boy Advance, the companies said in a statement.
Financial terms weren't disclosed, company spokeswoman Trudy Muller said.
The US company made 17 game titles for the GameCube last year, said Jay Defibaugh, an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston.
"EA wants to see competition for PlayStation 2," he said.
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