BigShinyThing

The games company is second only to Toyota in terms of market capitalisation. Shares in Nintendo closed up 3.1 per cent to ¥59,200 bringing its market value to ¥8,390bn ($73.2bn), surpassing Canon’s market cap of ¥8,120bn.

The Japanese games maker’s shares have more than quadrupled over the past two years as the family-friendly Wii console has trounced Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 to become the best-selling next-generation games machine in the world.

The surge in Ninteno’s market cap comes as Microsoft eagerly awaits the results of the much-hyped launch of Halo 3, the latest version of its blockbuster video game. Microsoft last month cut the price of its most popular Xbox 360 model by $50, following a similar move by Sony, which had cut the price of its PS3 console in the US to boost sales.

Nintendo is now back at the top of the console market, a position it last held 17 years ago with the Nintendo and Super Nintendo consoles. Observers attribute Nintendo’s success to Satoru Iwata, the company’s president, who joined the games maker in 2002. Mr Iwata is credited with forcing Nintendo to revamp its strategy by not trying to compete directly with Sony or Microsoft. Instead, the games maker has created a market in so-called ‘casual gaming’ by trying to woo adults as well as children.

Nintendo’s reclaimed supremacy was underlined in July when it leapfrogged Sony, the consumer electronics group, in terms of market capitalisation for the first time.

Sony disappointed gamers last week when it said the launch of Home, its virtual reality world, would be delayed until the spring.

The Wii costs $249 compared with $300-$400 for the Xbox 360 and $599 for the PS3. Anlaysts say prices of all three consoles are expected to drop by the crucial holiday shopping season.

Source: Financial Times