DS Hits 6m in Europe
The handheld is still on a tear in Europe, and it is all thanks to the Touch Generations.
The brouhaha surrounding last week's deluge of Wii details stole attention from Nintendo's DS for a while, but new numbers from Nintendo reveal that the public is not forgetting about it.
The DS has sold 6 million units in Europe, Nintendo's Satoru Shibata said at Nintendo's Wii briefing on Friday. This is a handsome addition to the 10 million units that the handheld has sold in Japan.
Nintendo says the DS is responsible for widening the gaming audience, just like it said it would. Around 44 per cent of DS owners are female, said Nintendo's Laurent Fisher, and thanks to games in the Touch Generations line, the company is attracting older people too.
More than half of the 700,000 copies sold of Brain Training in Europe have gone to people over 26 years old, Shibata said. Other DS hits include Animal Crossing: Wild World (850,000 copies sold) and the mighty Nintendogs (4 million copies sold).
Despite the treacle-like summer, sales haven't slowed down. The DS has a stranglehold on 70 per cent of the handheld market over the past 11 weeks. Look for it to get another bump later this year when the pink version of the DS Lite is released.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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