Update: Nintendo tops Sony in market value

Tokyo (Japan) – Nintendo has pushed all the right buttons in the past several months, enabling the gaming giant to surpass the fault-ridden Sony Corporation in market value.

Yesterday, Nintendo made a place on the list of Japan’s 10 most valuable companies. It’s the first time Nintendo has made the cut, alongside such giants as Toyota and Canon. Shares of Nintendo rose 2 percent which puts total valuation at $53 billion. Sony shares dipped and now have a total value of approximately $52 billion.

Sony has seen significant financial trouble in the past year. With the Playstation 3 launch plagued with production problems, a failure to attract the mainstream crowd to its next-gen platform, and a battery recall eating up legal and financial resources, Sony is in the midst of an ongoing struggle.

Nintendo, meanwhile, has surpassed the short-term expectations of most skeptics. Every month since the Wii’s debut last November, it has been the top-selling next-gen console. In May, for the first time, Wii unit sales were more than the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined. Wii and DS games have also dominated top 10 games lists every month so far this year.

With the full console cycle not even a year underway yet, it’s still early for Sony. With the upcoming introduction of the PS3’s online community Home and more time for developers to become familiar with the console, Sony says it can come back into the foreground like it was with the PS2. However, that also gives time for Microsoft and Nintendo to gain ground on Sony. Though the buzz has moved aside for the newer entrants, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 continues to sell well, claiming over 154,000 units last month.