Nintendo profits revived by weak yen

Super Mario is one of the best-selling game franchises of all time

Nintendo has bounced back into profit, thanks to a weaker Japanese yen.

The games maker reported an annual profit of 7.1bn yen ($72m; £47m), It suffered a loss of 43bn yen in the previous year.

But the company's sales dipped 1.9%, struggling against its rivals Sony and Microsoft, as the three battle it out in the $44bn games market.

Nintendo is behind Pokémon and Super Mario, one of the most successful ever game franchises.

The major players are also facing challenges from firms that make cheap downloadable games for smartphones and tablets

The Japanese yen has been trading at around 95 yen to the dollar in recent months, compared to around 80 a year ago.

A weak yen makes products cheaper to buyers outside Japan.

Woe is Wii?

Sales of Nintendo's Wii U consoles came in at 3.45 million units, well short of the four million annual target.

The Wii U, which went on sale late last year, was the first major new game console to arrive in stores in several years.

The company said a lack of game software had caused console sales to miss the targets.

Sony is promising to launch the latest version of its Playstation console later this year and Microsoft could also be set to release an updated Xbox by the busy festive season.