Tokyo  - Japan's Nintendo Co posted record profits for the previous business year, shrugging off the global financial crisis with the aid of its popular gaming consoles.

Net profit rose 8.5 per cent to 279.09 billion yen (2.8 billion dollars) for the fiscal year ending March 31, the video game maker said.

However, domestic demand slumped unexpectedly, Nintendo said. The producer of the Wii and DS consoles said sales are expected to contract by 2.1 per cent to 1.8 trillion yen in the current business year. Net profit is estimated to rise by 7.5 per cent to 300 billion yen, which is below analyst expectations, but operating profits are expected to drop 11.8 per cent to 490 billion yen.

Within 28 months after launching its Wii, an easy-to-operate yet motion-sensitive gaming console, Nintendo sold 50 million units, beating the previous record holder, Sony's Playstation 2, by six months.

However, March sales of the world's most popular gaming console dropped by 63 per cent year-on-year on its Japanese home market, leaving Nintendo to tail its Playstation 3 rival for the first time.

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwanta wants to boost sales in the second half of the year by launching new games such as Wii Sport Resort.

At the same time, Nintendo upgraded its portable DS console, adding two cameras and audio functions. After its launch in November, DSi portable triggered a renewed gaming boom in Japan.

It sold 31.18 million DS consoles in the last fiscal year. (dpa)