DS 'fastest-selling platform in Europe'

Two months before the second anniversary of the DS portable in Europe, Nintendo has released figures which claim that the handheld has become the fastest-selling games hardware in Europe, with 10 million units sold in 22 months.

In November, the company announced that it had shifted 7 million units and that six of the portable's games had sold 1 million copies apiece.

The company credits much of the success of the platform to its Touch! Generations games, which are aimed at nontraditional gaming audiences and include Nintendogs and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (Brain Age in the US).

Titles for the Nintendo DS scheduled for release in Europe in 2007 include Mario Slam Basketball, Star Fox Command, Actionloop, and Final Fantasy III. These form part of the 67 games due to ship during the first quarter of 2007.

Nintendo's European marketing director, Laurent Fischer, commented, "Its appeal to both gamers and non-gamers means it has expanded the gaming population significantly...something that was unimaginable a few years ago."