Nintendo on Thursday raised its full-year operating profit and sales forecast beyond market expectations, fuelled by strong holiday sales of its blockbuster Wii console and its handheld peer, the DS.

The Wii last year outsold Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in both the key US market and Japan. And over the Christmas period in the US the shortage of Wiis prompted eager parents to queue up outside of retailers at the crack of dawn, awaiting a fresh batch of console shipments.