Nintendo stock price rockets

TOKYO--Even though the company was a TGS no-show, Nintendo's stock price shot up early this week, reports Bloomberg Japan. Nintendo's share price rose 2.1 percent, or 260 yen, to 12,760 yen on the Monday following Tokyo Game Show. Financial analysts in Japan are debating whether the rise in share price was directly influenced by the events of Tokyo Game Show or simply coincidental.

KBC Securities' Hiroshi Kamide noted that investors might have simply been looking for something stable to buy. "Nintendo's shares are probably being purchased as defensive stock, a stock that tends to remain stable during difficult economic conditions, since the company's performance is stable and the market is hitting a low," he said.

But UFJ Tsubasa Securities analyst Kei Oka painted a different picture. "People who were disappointed after seeing Sony's PSP and its games [at TGS] may now be anticipating the Nintendo DS," he said. While Sony Computer Entertainment had more than 20 PSP games at the show, many of them were still in the early stages of development. And although analysts did not seem to have any issues with the hardware itself, they questioned whether Sony could indeed release the PSP by the end of the year with a solid third-party game lineup. Furthermore, questions regarding the PSP's battery life and price went unanswered at TGS.

Whatever the reason, there may be additional movement in Nintendo's share price on October 7. On that day in both Japan and North America, the company will have a media-only event that will introduce the DS's final form and update the software lineup that will complement the new handheld's launch.