Nintendo said Wednesday it will stop making its basic Wii game console for the Japanese market, but will keep producing it internationally.

The move to abandon the venerable machine, which competes with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3, will allow Nintendo to focus all effort on its successor.

“Our new generation Wii U console is already on the market and allows users to play software originally designed for the Wii,” a company spokesman said. “This is part of the transition of our products to new models.”

The company will keep producing the Wii for markets abroad, including the cheaper Wii mini, the spokesman said.

Since its release in 2006, the Wii has sold more than 100 million units worldwide.

The Wii caused a storm at its launch, with its emphasis on family-orientated gaming that made use of wireless controllers fitted with accelerometers.

These controllers, which sparked production of games where players could mimic the body movements of a sport or playing a musical instrument, were eventually copied by all of Nintendo’s rivals.

Nintendo launched the Wii U console late last year, although analysts said a lack of games took away some of the buzz the company had been seeking after its 3DS console saw disappointing demand abroad.

Nintendo, maker of the iconic “Donkey Kong” and “Super Mario” franchises, has been locked in a war with Sony and Microsoft for dominance of the $44 billion a year gaming sector.

Nintendo generated a net profit of ¥8.62 billion in the three months to June as the weakening yen helped inflate its overseas results.