We all knew the continued success of the and must be earning a pretty penny or two, but it's only now we can see just how big an impact the two innovative consoles have had on the companies market value.

Weighing in at a whopping YEN 10 trillion (that's roughly GBP 42 million in case you were wondering) the new figures see the Japanese gaming giant valued at more than both and Microsoft. Perhaps more impressively that figure also means the company is now valued at almost three times what it was when the Wii launched last year.

"There's every reason to believe Nintendo will continue to execute its well in expanding the gaming to strengthen its position ... and really keep doing what it's been doing regardless of what is doing," Hiroshi Kamide, KBC Securities analyst, said.

With a bumper for the Wii predicted worldwide it would seem Nintendo are intent on doing just that.

By Paul Newcombe