Nintendo Q1 profit up 31.5 pct on Wii demand : US Business

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd's <7974.OS> quarterly profit rose 31.5 percent on the runaway success of its Wii game console, but the Japanese video game maker kept its annual outlook that falls well short of market expectations.

April-June operating profit at Nintendo, which is waging a three-way battle with Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp <6758.T> in the global video game industry, rose to 119.2 billion yen ($1.10 billion) from 90.63 billion yen a year earlier.

Nintendo's Wii, competing with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, has enjoyed brisk demand thanks to its easy-to-learn motion-sensing controller, low price and innovative titles such as the "Wii Fit" exercise game.

For the full year to March, Nintendo kept its operating profit forecast of 530 billion yen, up 8.8 percent on the year, but below a consensus of 597.1 billion yen in a poll of 20 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

Shares in Nintendo, creator of iconic game characters such as Mario and Zelda, have fallen 16.9 percent this year through Tuesday, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei average <.N225>, which is down 14 percent.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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