DS: sold at a rate of one every five seconds, best selling system of the year

4:33 PM on 12.11.2007   |   Dale North

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I don't think that anyone would be surprised to hear that the Nintendo DS will end up being the US's best-selling game system of 2007. Seriously, as much as Captain Obvious likes to help out with stating the obvious, this time he just flew by the Nintendo of America offices as it looked like they had this covered.

A press release from Nintendo says that more than 6 million Nintendo DS units have been sold this year through November, which is where they get their "one every five seconds" rate. The system's sales have increased every year since its 2004 launch.

"There's no letup in sight," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Nintendo DS appeals strongly to both core and casual gamers, and its momentum is set to propel us into 2008."

The DS has also broken the Thanksgiving week sales record. The Gameboy Advance held the previous title, with 600,000 sold in one week. This year, the DS tops that with 650,000.

Between the DS and the Wii, I think casual gaming is here to stay. Hit the jump to read the full release. 

While many eyes are focused on home video game consoles, Nintendo projects Nintendo DS(TM) to be the top-selling system of the year. More than 6 million Nintendo DS portable video game systems have sold in the United States in 2007 through Nov. 30, according to internal Nintendo of America Inc. sales numbers. That's a rate of about one sold every five seconds of 2007, enough to project Nintendo DS will be the top-selling video game system of any kind for the year. Nintendo DS has increased its sales in the United States every year since it launched in November 2004. 

"There's no letup in sight," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Nintendo DS appeals strongly to both core and casual gamers, and its momentum is set to propel us into 2008."

Nintendo DS began 2007 strong, but its momentum only increased as the year progressed. Before 2007, Game Boy(R) Advance held the all-time U.S. Thanksgiving week sales record, with 600,000 systems sold in 2005. But Nintendo DS beat that Thanksgiving week record with more than 650,000 sold.

The huge appeal of Nintendo DS stems from the diversity of software available for the system. Four Nintendo DS games have sold more than 2 million in the United States alone, including New Super Mario Bros.(R), Mario Kart(R) DS, Pokemon(R) Diamond and Super Mario(R) 64 DS. Another eight games have sold more than 1 million each in the United States, including Brain Age(TM): Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, Pokemon(R) Pearl, Animal Crossing(R): Wild World, Big Brain Academy(TM) and four separate versions of Nintendogs(TM).

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.5 billion video games and more than 430 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R), Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at http://www.nintendo.com.