TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday shot past Panasonic maker Matsushita (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) in market value and closed in on rival Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) as investors took heart from white hot demand for its Wii and DS game gear.

Nintendo shares closed up 1.4 percent at 44,500 yen, increasing its market capitalisation to 6.30 trillion yen ($51 billion).

That compares with Matsushita's 6.23 trillion yen and 6.64 trillion yen for Sony -- the world's largest and second-largest consumer electronics makers, each having sales more than eight times as big as Nintendo.