It is Nintendo’s move. Over the summer, its video game rivals Sony and Microsoft have made large cuts to the price of their Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Whether and how Nintendo responds will shape what is likely to be the Japanese company’s most difficult Christmas since it launched the Wii in 2006.

In the past three years there has been little change in the video game industry’s pecking order. The Wii, with its innovative motion-sensing controller, has been a runaway success, leaving Sony’s high-powered but expensive PS3 to fight a difficult battle with Microsoft for second place.