Nintendo Scores With Handhelds

3 million Nintendo DS sold in three days. Not really, but it could look that way.

Things just keep on looking up for Nintendo. Following a rosy announcement for DS sales in Japan and North America, the company has now revealed that the Nintendo DS is still Europe's favourite handheld.

As of March 2005, Nintendo's dual-screen system has racked up sales of 3.5 million in Europe. This compares well with the 5 million sold in the US and 4 million in Japan, and it shows shrinkage of a traditional gap between handheld sales in Europe and elsewhere around the world.

The final tally for global DS sales now stands at around 13 million - significantly more than the 10 million reported by sources earlier this week.

The biggest reason for these healthy results is the quality of the games for the DS. Nintendo's highly touted puppy simulator Nintendogs has pulled in sales of 1.6 million copies across Europe already, which is roughly one copy for every two DSs.

This staggering achievement is bolstered by fans' rabid uptake of more traditional games such as the online-enabled Mario Kart DS, which has sold over 800,000 copies since its release at the end of November.

Not to be forgotten, the Game Boy Advance is still proving popular with the younger set and with Pokémon fans in particular. The critter-infested game has already been snapped up by 1.2 million gotta-catch-'em-allers since it came out in October.

Things are not looking as good for the black sheep in Nintendo's stable, the GameCube. Sales have slowed dramatically as publishers have either pulled out of games for the console or have limited new games to a trickle.

Nintendo's big hope for reviving the ailing console was the latest adventure of Link in Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but the game was delayed late last year for polishing and expansion.

Nintendo will hope for much better reception for its follow-up to the GameCube, Revolution, which is on track for delivery this year. The next-gen console will be able to play games from all of Nintendo's past consoles, a feature many see rivalling the appeal of the kooky magic wand-like controller.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games