www.shoppingdotcom.co.uk Japanese gaming firm Nintendo has increased its sales forecasts for the financial year for the fourth time in the last 12 months.

The Kyoto-based company expects sales to reach 966 billion yen (£4.1 billion) in the year ending March, a rise of seven per cent from its previous revision.

No profit figures were provided in today's updated forecast, but Nintendo said it also expected these to increase in turn. Analysts have predicted that the firm will report its best-ever earnings when revealing annual figures on April 26th.

Nintendo says "robust" sales of its handheld £100 DS console are behind the rise, but it has also been buoyed by continuing international demand in its flagship £179-priced Wii home console.

The touch-screen DS, controlled by a stylus, and the Wii's motion-sensor controller have brought Nintendo into the lucrative mainstream market, with the DS' range of 'non-games' such as Brain Training for Adults a bestseller.

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