DS Hits 1m in Europe
It may be underpowered compared to the PSP, but it's also building up a good-sized installed base.
Do you hear that? That slightly disconcerting hum is the sound of more than a million Europeans rubbing in unison.
Nintendo's stable of mascots has played a largepart in the success of DS
Sony may have very good reasons for pushing back the European release of the PSP, but it's setting itself up for a major scrap with portable gaming behemoth Nintendo, which has revealed that sales of the DS in Europe have shot past the million mark.
The dual-screen handheld has been just as popular outside of the continent, with Japanese and American gamers snapping up more than 4 million DSs.
The DS debuted in the UK in early March and went on to become the fastest selling piece of hardware ever.
And despite a slowdown in new releases soon after the launch, gamers haven't been discouraged from giving the handheld a go, and the DS has consistently come in second, week after week, on the UK hardware sales charts.
There are now a quarter of a million DSs in British pockets, and that number is set to rise for a while still as Sony will only release the PSP in the UK and across Europe on 1 September.
So go on - rub. Everyone else is.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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