Nintendo has considered buyback, says no new Wii

Nintendo Co Ltd has considered a share buyback, but only if a specific need arises, the company's president said on Wednesday.

(A buyback) is something that we do take into consideration and may do as the need arises, Satoru Iwata said through an interpreter at an analyst briefing during the E3 video game industry conference in Los Angeles.

But he said the company would not discuss its plans in public.

Iwata also said Nintendo, whose sales of Wii consoles has outpaced sales of game consoles made by Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp even though growth has slowed, does not feel any urgency to replace the Wii.

In response to a question about growing sales of Sony's PlayStation 3, he said, It is easy to talk about growth when you are working off of a very low base.

The fact is that when you look at the absolute number for units sold, it is clear that the pace is dramatically better than either of our competitors, he said. The absolute level of sales has been widening in our favor.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; editing by John Wallace)