year period, up from about 106 yen in the same period a year ago. First half sales fell because interest in the revamped Game Boy handheld machine subsided from a year ago. But Nintendo managed to make a profit because it was selling more game software rather than machines, it said. Games are cheaper to produce than consoles. Console sales were expected to pick up in coming months because the Nintendo DS, a handheld machine with two screens including a touch-panel, is selling in the United States and will hit stores next month in Japan. Nintendo hopes the DS will appeal to a wide audience at a time when video gaming is increasingly appealing to a niche market. Nintendo raised its global DS sales forecast for the fiscal year through March 2005 on Thursday to 5 million from 4 million. It had initially targeted 3.5 million in global sales. The company reiterated its view that the traditional formula for success _ graphically stunning, complex games based on sophisticated technology _ no longer works. "While competitive pricing has become increasingly intense, software sales concentrated around only a few popular sports games and movie-based titles that take advantage of the latest technology," it said in a statement. "The business environment is yet in a difficult state." The competition in handholds is likely to intensify with the introduction in Japan next month of Sony Corp.'s PSP, a portable PlayStation which also plays music files and video. The PSP is not set for overseas sales until next year.
