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Wii helps Nintendo to big profit boost

Nintendo Co said yesterday profits more than doubled in the six months to Sept. 30 on the soaring success of its hit Wii and Nintendo DS game consoles.

The manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games said its group net profit surged to ¥132.42 billion (US$1.16 billion) in its fiscal first half from ¥54.35 billion a year earlier. Group sales more than doubled to ¥694.80 billion (US$6.07 billion) from ¥298.82 billion.

The company also raised its full year profit forecast for the year ending in March. Nintendo lifted its group earnings to total ¥275 billion (US$2.40 billion) from the ¥245 billion it forecast in July, on an expected 10 percent increase in sales to ¥1.55 trillion (US$13.55 billion).

The strong numbers underline Nintendo's success in a three-way battle of video game consoles against Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360.

With its wandlike remote control for fishing, golfing, tennis and other video games, Nintendo's Wii console has won over fans from young children to elderly rehab patients. A new fitness game due out in Japan in December uses an exercise board that can sense a user's movements.

The company said it shipped about 3.9 million units around the world in the last three months, bringing its total shipments since the console's launch last year to 13.2 million units, ahead of the PS3 and Xbox 360.
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