Nintendo shares continue climb

Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo's shares, driven by the success of the DS and the Wii, closed up 1.4 percent today in Tokyo at 44,500 yen (approximately $360).

The latest growth in the share price now brings the Mario Factory's market capitalisation--the cumulative value of its stock--to 6.30 trillion yen ($51 billion), reports Reuters. This takes it past Panasonic parent Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s 6.23 trillion yen ($50 billion) and has it closing in on Sony's 6.64 trillion yen ($54 billion).

Over the last two years, Sony's stock has gained 72 percent, outperforming the Nikkei's average of 59 percent. Nintendo shares have also jumped, some 300 percent over the same time period.

Analysts reacted to the news positively. KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide said, "Nintendo is a market leader in everything it does now, which is basically the handheld as well as the console gaming market. We haven't seen Nintendo being a market leader in both products in over a decade."

Ichiyoshi Investment Management chief fund manager Mitsushige Akino said, "I think Nintendo is bound to overtake Sony (in market capitalisation)."