Nintendo dominates hardware sales down under in '07

Last year was, by all accounts, a stellar year for Nintendo, with the Japanese gaming giant breaking sales records worldwide. It seems Australians weren't immune to Nintendo's charms in 2007, with figures just released by industry tracker GfK Australia showing Nintendo was well on top in both handheld and console sales.

The Nintendo DS was Australia's best-selling game platform for 2007, with a whopping 509,869 units sold. In December alone, 133,691 DSs were snapped up by consumers. This large 2007 haul brings the DSs overall Australian install base to more than 1 million units.

Not to be outdone by its portable cousin, the Nintendo Wii also broke records in 2007 and has now become the quickest console to reach 300,000 unit sales in Australia. In December alone, 73,318 Wiis were sold in Australia. The Wii has been a strong seller down under since its December 2006 debut and holds the title for fastest to 100,000 sales and 200,000 sales.

By comparison, Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 155,000 units down under since its release in March 2007. While Microsoft has not officially unveiled 2007 sales figures for the Xbox 360, it's estimated that more than 160,000 units were sold last year.

GfK Australia also unveiled that six of 2007's top-selling games in Australia were Nintendo titles: Pokémon Diamond, Brain Training, Pokémon Pearl, More Brain Training, Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends, and Super Mario Galaxy.