Record-breaking week for Nintendo DS

8.5 million units now sold across Europe

It's not just the Wii which has been performing well recently - Nintendo's handheld has also been breaking some records of its own.

New figures released by the company show 515,000 DS units were sold across Europe last week. That's the highest number for any week in the handheld's history and, according to Nintendo, the most any console has ever sold in seven days.

In total, 8.5 million DS units have been sold in Europe since the console launched in March 2005, and that figure is set to get a further boost as the festive season gets underway.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at GAME's midnight opening for the launch of the Wii last week, the retailer's chief executive, Lisa Morgan, said, "What's so great about this Christmas is there's such a wide choice of things for consumers to choose from. The Nintendo DS, for example, is selling so well - the pink DS Lite is just flying out the doors the minute it hits the shelves."

GamesIndustry.biz

nintendo is like owning the gaming industry right now in sales... are the days of NES & SNES coming back?

i don't know.... it's very early..... i honestly think wii is gonna come in third this gen... but i love the wii and hope it can keep it's steady pace....

How can you say the Wii will come in third for this generation? already they are outselling Sony and Microsoft, its not like the last generation where all formats were released around the same time, Microsoft have built up a lead, but already we are seeing that lead evaporate (ps3 has sold 10,000 more units in Japan than the Xbox 360-which in turn has sold less than the Wii).
No one can come in 3rd place as there are only 2 companies looking at it like that, Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo are happy to do what hey always do....make good, inovative consoles and games, that way everyone can have a Wii and their choice of high powered, real graphic, money sucking next gen console.Everyones a winner.

Having worked retail this entire year, the DS has been gathering nothing but steam against the PSP, to the point where, right now, at my store, DS systems sell the minute we get them in, while we have countless PSP systems in the case with only little kids wishing for them, then going for the DS game that their parents buy.

On another note, while DS has been selling faster than anything (ironically owing mostly to Nintendogs still, for girls, and the Brain Games for parents eager for their kids education (!)), the sheer number of people asking for Wii dwarfs any other request we have had in the entire season. Not even the PS3 gets more attention or questions, and that with a running Kiosk and graphical problems.

Then again, people might want a Wii over a PS3 after they see the George Foreman Grill freezing up three times in a day, and six times in five days...

Mikaa