Nintendo expects to have Wii's available in US in holiday season

NEW YORK Oct 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS) expects to have more of its Wii game consoles available in the U.S. this holiday season, but stopped short of guaranteeing there will be no shortages of the popular device.

There will be a "significant increase from 2007's levels" in North American supplies of the Wii between October and December, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Supplies of the Nintendo DS handheld device will also be available "in greater abundance" the company said.

"While there's no way to gauge total demand for our hardware systems, we're trying to satisfy as many of those players as possible," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Last year during the holiday season, the device was very hard to find, with many stores quickly selling out shipments that they received each week.

Nintendo at one point offered a "rain check" program with game retailer GameStop (GME.N) to deliver the Wii in January to shoppers who could not get the game console during the holiday season due to inventory shortages.

The Wii had been in hot demand due largely to its unique motion-sensing controller and simpler games that have drawn customers outside the traditional base of young males.

Sales of the Wii and rival consoles -- Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 by Sony Corp (6758.T) -- are expected to be strong this holiday.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)