TOKYO — Nintendo plans to launch its videogame business in Russia later this year, competing with Sony and Microsoft in a growth market, business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Sunday.
With the U.S., European and Japanese game markets maturing, the Japanese videogame maker, known for game characters such as Mario and Pokemon, needs fresh markets with strong growth potential.
Nintendo’s European unit has already appointed a local agency to start selling its game hardware and software in November, the newspaper said.
Nintendo officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Kyoto-based company saw its operating profit more than treble in the fiscal first half to September thanks to its hot-selling DS hand-held games.
It will start rolling out its new game console, the Wii, next month in the United States, staging a three-way battle with Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s already-available Xbox 360.