Video games firm Nintendo has posted an 8.5% rise in its net annual profits.

电视游戏厂商任天堂通告网络年利率上升了8.5%。

The Wii has been a big seller since its launch in 2006

The company said it made just under 279.1bn yen¹ (£1.85bn) for the financial year ending 21 March 2009, up from 257.3bn yen the previous year.

However, this is far less than the 47.7% rise in net profits the firm posted in the last financial year.

So far Nintendo has weathered the economic storm better than some of its rivals, mainly due to the success of its Wii console（控制台，操纵台） and portable DS device.

Sony - maker² of PlayStation systems - and Microsoft, which produces the XBox 360 console, have both announced job cuts.

In its annual results, Nintendo was upbeat（乐观的） about its future and the games industry as a whole. In a statement it said: "[While] the future of economies around the world is still unclear, the video game industry was less impacted by the economic downturn than most [and] remained relatively³ stable in spite of the large consumer spending decline."

Nintendo's profits have grown steadily⁴ over the past three years and the firm said it expected its net income to rise over the coming year, to 300 billion yen.

Last year, the firm sold 25,950,000 Wii consoles and 31,180,000 DS machines although it expects sales for the next 12 months to remain steady or decline slightly.

The firm also said it was working on a number of software titles, including The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Wii Sports Resort.