NINTENDO EUROPE TAKES THE NEW YEAR BY STORM WITH OUTSTANDING HAND-HELD SUCCESS
- 3.5 million Nintendo DS units sold across Europe -
5th January 2006 - Without a doubt 2005 was the year of the handheld console. With the highly successful launch of the Nintendo DS and the continued success of Game Boy Advance SP Nintendo has dominated the handheld market. Following Nintendo DS's launch in Europe in March, almost three and a half million Nintendo DS have been sold.
Worldwide sales have shown a similar pattern with millions turning to Nintendo for their portable gaming. Approximately 13 million* Nintendo DS are now in the hands of people all around the world.
In Europe sales of Nintendo DS have been significantly bolstered by the launch of ground breaking games such as Nintendogs, which sold 1.6 million copies in Europe since launch in October and Mario Kart DS which stormed the Christmas charts with its global Wi-Fi capabilities, selling 800,000 copies in Europe since its late November launch.
Game Boy Advance has once again continued to sell well throughout the year with Pokemon continuing to go from strength to strength, sales of the latest game Pokemon Emerald reaching a staggering 1.2 million since it launched in October 2005.
European gamers have a lot to look forward to in 2006, with the launch of Prof. Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain? and Animal Crossing: Wild World, both of which have been a huge success in Japan, selling over one million each, and are launching soon in Europe.
The Nintendo DS is available for around 129 Euros. Mario Kart DS and Nintendogs are now available for around 40 Euros and both games are also available in bundle packs (including a copy of the game and a Nintendo DS), available for around 149 Euros.
* Combined sell-thru numbers in Japan, US, Latin America, Australia and other territories
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Originally posted by: Silks
Hmm, let's do some math...
DS's American release was Nov. 21, 2004. As of the end of Dec. 2005, it has been out in the U.S. for 13.5 months.
4,000,000/13.5 = 296,296 sold per month
DS's European release was Mar. 11, 2005. As of the end of Dec. 2005, it has been out in Europe for 9.5 months.
3,500,000/9.5 = 368,421 sold per month
So the DS is selling at a faster rate in Europe (+75,000 per month) than in the US...you'd think that Nintendo would make Europe more of a priority than it has been in the past.
