Nintendo shares soar after announcement of a teaser for next generation console

Japan’s Nintendo Co Ltd said it will release a short video later on Thursday of the next-generation game console it plans to launch globally in March - an announcement that sent its shares up more than 4 percent. The Kyoto-based games company has disclosed few details of the console beyond its codename, NX. The three-minute video will be available to watch on the company’s website at 11 p.m. (1400 GMT). The console’s success will be crucial to Nintendo as the firm still places console gaming at the center of its business, even as casual gaming shifts from living rooms to smartphones. Sales of Nintendo’s current Wii U console have reached 13 million units since its 2012 launch. Its predecessor, the Wii, launched in 2006, sold 101 million units. The disappointing sales added impetus to shareholders and observers urging Nintendo to embrace smartphone gaming. Earlier this year, Nintendo finally decided to bring some of its popular characters to mobile, leading to the runaway success of its game Pokemon GO. Shares of Nintendo rose as much as 4.4 percent during Thursday trade in Tokyo, outpacing the broader Nikkei average share price index. Reuters