NTDOY Nintendo Co Ltd (PK)

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said it has sold 1 million units of its Kinect motion-based platform for Xbox 360 video game consoles worldwide in 10 days and expects unit sales to hit 5 million by the end of the year.

Before the Kinect launch, Microsoft raised its worldwide sales forecast from 3 million to 5 million sensors sold by year-end. Kinect launched in North America on Nov. 4 and was introduced in Europe last Wednesday. It will launch in Asia on Thursday and Japan on Saturday.

The Kinect device and Sony Corp.'s (SNE, 6758.TO) similar Move platform were built to appeal to casual gamers who have gravitated to Nintendo Co.'s (NTDOY, 7974.OK) Wii. Their popularity comes as the video game industry combats a long soft patch caused by the global recession and subsequent weak economy.

Microsoft's shares were at $26.31, up 0.4%, in after-hours trading. The stock was down 14% this year as of the close.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com