Company: Nintendo Co Ltd-Ord-

Nintendo said on Thursday it will return to profit this year, helped by a weakening yen, after posting its first annual operating loss on shrinking sales of its ageing Wii gaming console and weak demand for its new 3DS handheld device.

Popular brands don’t always stay popular, but some that fall out of favor return to the marketplace in better positions than they held before being written off. See the brands that defied conventional wisdom and came back after everyone counted them out.

The market for handheld devices may be getting squeezed by competition from mobile gaming platforms like smartphones and tablet PCs, but research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) is predicting further growth for the sector and expects revenues to jump as much as 20 percent this year, after single-digit percentage growth in 2011.

The holiday season is typically loaded with must-have games, but the number hitting shelves this year is unprecedented. Several top franchises have new installments out and some new games are looking very promising. That's good news for players, but it's even better for gift buyers, since few gamers will be able to keep up with the deluge. Here are some sure-fire suggestions.