UPDATE 3-Nintendo Q3 profit doubles on Wii, outlook raised

(Adds Nintendo executive's comments, details, background)

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

OSAKA, Japan Jan 24 (Reuters) - Robust holiday sales of Wii and DS game machines helped Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS) more than double its quarterly operating profit and prompted it to raise its outlook beyond market expectations.

Its Wii console, which features a motion-sensing controller, and the double-screened DS handheld game gear have opened the way to innovative new games -- helping Nintendo attract a wide range of new users, including women and the elderly.

Wii sales topped Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Xbox 360 in both the United States and Japan last year.

"Solid results, but the market's attention is already on the year ahead," said Takeshi Osawa, a senior fund manager at Norinchukin Zenkyoren Asset Management.

"I would like see how the firm will maintain its growth for the next several years."

Operating profit at Nintendo, creator of game characters Mario and Zelda, came to 205.3 billion yen ($1.93 billion) in October-December, up from 100.5 billion yen a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations. Nintendo only gave results for the nine months to December.

Net profit in October-December rose 63 percent from the same period a year earlier to 126.5 billion yen on sales of 621.6 billion yen, up 50 percent, as gamers were drawn to its ground-breaking models.

Fund managers said Nintendo's solid performance is factored into its share price, and what interests them most is how the company will manage to keep its strong momentum going.

Shares in Nintendo more than doubled in value last year on strong sales of its game machines and software titles, helping the company zip past corporate giants such as Sony and Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) in market value.

OUTLOOK RAISED

Nintendo said it now expects its operating profit to total a record 460 billion yen for the full year to March 31, up almost 10 percent from a previous forecast of 420 billion yen and just above the consensus of 456.5 billion yen in a poll of 21 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

It is Nintendo's third upward earnings revision for the current business year. It lifted its full-year dividend forecast by 9 percent to 1,190 yen from a previously estimated 1,090 yen.

"Some people say the overall economy is getting worse and consumption is weakening. But our industry seems to be pretty well shielded from what's going on," Nintendo Senior Managing Director Yoshihiro Mori told a news conference.

The company left its annual net profit forecast unchanged at 275 billion yen, however, as a firmer yen is expected to lower the value of its foreign assets in yen terms.

Users of the DS can give commands using a stylus instead of a key pad, while the Wii's controller, which looks like a TV remote control, allows gamers to direct on-screen play by swinging it like a tennis racket or a sword.

Nintendo said it plans to launch its wildly popular home fitness game, Wii Fit, in overseas markets in the second quarter of this calendar year in a step to stir up Wii demand further.

Nintendo last month released Wii Fit in Japan, fanning the already white-hot demand for the top-selling console.

The new game features a pressure-sensing mat called the Wii Balance Board, which looks like a set of bathroom scales and can sense when a person moves and leans.

That enables players to head virtual soccer balls and experience ski jumping on a TV gaming screen.

Underscoring continued demand for its game machines, Nintendo raised its DS sales target for the year to March by 5.4 percent to 29.5 million units, while boosting its sales forecast for the Wii by 5.7 percent to 18.5 million units.

Mori said it may expand Wii output in next business year from the current 1.8 million units a month to meet demand.

Wii demand in the holiday season far outpaced supply.

Prior to the announcement Nintendo shares closed down 2 percent at 53,100 yen. The Nikkei .N225 rose 2.1 percent. ($1=106.23 Yen) (Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka, Aiko Hayashi and Yumi Horie; Editing by Michael Watson)