DS Lite switches on to 35k opening in UK

The DS Lite has enjoyed a promising if unspectacular launch in the UK, shifting 35,000 units in its opening weekend at retail - with little to choose between the white and black models of Nintendo's redesigned handheld.

In the two days following launch, the system sold through approximately 40 per cent of the 87k start achieved by original DS in March 2005. While Lite did not prove to be a sell-out, Nintendo UK is likely to be encouraged by a solid early performance during a World Cup and without a heavy marketing push behind the hardware during the launch window.

“It didn't set the world on fire, but I don't think we were expecting it to,” ChartTrack's Dorian Bloch told GamesIndustry.biz.

“You can call it good as they've managed to sell 35,000 even though the football's on. I tend to think it doesn't make much difference to what the year total will be, because those who haven't bought it yet will buy it as soon as their attention has moved on from something else.”

ChartTrack confirmed that sales of the White and Black models were split 50/50 while, significantly, Lite's appearance did not impact on sales of either the original DS or Sony's rival PSP system.

“Original DS sold through the same as it did the previous week. Who's buying it? The answer is in the pink one - DS Pink made up half of original DS sales last week, bundled with Nintendogs Daschund," Bloch said.

“PSP sales are actually up - week 25 was actually up quite a lot anyway in terms of software and hardware, because we've gone past the really, really low point now. We're not going to have a week as low as the past couple of weeks. But that's the traditional low point anyway, which hasn't been helped by the football.”

The launch of the Lite also boosted sales of DS software, with eight DS-exclusive titles in the All Formats Top 40 this week - the same number as at the launch of the original system.

The original DS has an installed base of around 1.3 million in the UK. The older system currently retails for GBP 89, with the Lite at GBP 99. Lite has sold a massive 2.2m units in Japan since its March 2nd launch, with sales of 136,500 recorded for the first two days following its June 11th introduction in the US.

Via Gamesindustry