Konami's first-half earnings rise

Konami has allayed investor fears by reporting a strong financial performance in the first half of its fiscal year, ending in September.

Konami's stock recently fell heavily on the news that Metal Gear Solid 4 had been delayed into 2008.

But Konami has posted increases of 12 per cent in sales, 29 per cent in operating income and 23 per cent in net income over the same period last year.

It attributed the increase to particularly strong sales of its baseball titles for PS3 and Wii. It also noted the continuing good performances of the Dance Dance Revolution and Pro Evolution Soccer series, and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops for PSP, which sold well in Europe.

In the filing, Konami noted that the games industry, while "thriving", was changing in nature. It predicted that the days of dominant platforms like the PlayStation 2 were over, and that global markets would diversify.

"Previously, a single home gaming platform was the market leader worldwide, but that pattern has changed," said the release. "Whichever platform best caters to usersâ preferences in a particular country or region, in terms of the games available to be played on it, is now the one that will dominate the local market."

Konami's guidance for the fiscal year is now 295 billion yen in revenue, 33 billion yen in operating income and 18.3 billion yen in net income.