Gaming Firm, Nintendo profits boosted by Wii

Japanese game giant Nintendo has seen its quarterly profits rocket thanks to the popularity of its Wii game console.

Nintendo’s net profits hit 80.25bn yen (approximately £323.9m) in the three months to June, up from 15.55bn yen in the same period a year earlier.

The Wii has been successful in reaching non-traditional gamers such as women and older players. Nintendo has also enjoyed strong sales of its DS lite console.

The company has now raised its annual profit forecasts by 40%.

Nintendo now predicts net profits will rise to 245bn yen for the year to March 2008, above the current forecast of  175bn yen.

The company said it sold 3.43 million Wii machines worldwide in the April-to-June quarter, meaning that it had now sold 9.27 million consoles since its launch.

Nintendo is now expecting to sell 16.5 million Wii machines in the year to March 2008, up from a previous forecast of 14 million.