200 million screens sold

Somewhere around two hundred million Nintendo DS screens have been sold worldwide (keeping the odd replacement screens aside), as Nintendo of America revealed that the 100 millionth Nintendo DS unit has been shipped.

Somewhere - perhaps in Chicago, maybe in Paris, possibly in Tokyo - the 100 millionth system in the Nintendo DS franchise has been shipped to a distributor or a retailer as of March 6, 2009. The combined total sales of 100 million Nintendo DS systems, Nintendo DS Lite systems and Nintendo DSi systems represent a significant milestone in the life of this franchise, which is still going strong.

"Consumers have shown their love for Nintendo DS - 100 million times over," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We are grateful that people of all ages continue to respond to our products, and we will continue to look for ways to please current gamers and create new ones."

Since the original Nintendo DS launched in late 2004, its dual screens, touch screen and voice-recognition capabilities ushered in an era of new experiences not previously possible on portable systems. The successor, Nintendo DS Lite, launched with a slimmer, trimmer look.

The third iteration of the Nintendo DS hardware, Nintendo DSi, launches in the United States three and a half weeks from now on April 5. Nintendo DSi includes two cameras and the ability to record, manipulate and play sound files, and will allow consumers to personalize their very own Nintendo DSi experiences. It will again transform the way people access, experience, create and share portable content.

From the beginning, consumers around the world responded to the novel software options available on Nintendo DS. This is reflected by the fact that as of Dec. 31, 2008, there were 83 DS titles whose global shipment exceeded 1 million. Seven of these titles topped 10 million. Experiences like Nintendogs and the Brain Age series began a paradigm shift for the industry, as video games grew beyond the traditional audience of young men to include girls, adult men and women - and even seniors. Traditional games like New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS keep people coming back for more. Nintendo DS games demonstrate an "evergreen" quality: They frequently remain in the top-selling lists, months - or even years - after their launch. The system continues to expand into new territory with titles such as those in the Personal Trainer series.

We can just add a big "congratulations" to this news.

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Comments

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  Nintendo DS it the first Nintendo console to sell alone more than 100 million units in the world. The 8 bit Game Boy consoles broke this record before, but they counted the black & white handheld numbers combined with the Game Boy Color numbers. Alone they don't get past the 100 million, so Nintendo DS is the most successful Nintendo console EVER.

  Olpus Bonzo, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  I can still remember unpacking my first DS, together with Tim from Cube-Europe (we were probably the first 'normal' consumers in Europe to get our hands on a DS before the official launch)

  Dennis, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Ah yes, I still have my Metroid demo somewhere too.

  Andrew, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  I don't... that one went missing together with my ex-girlfriend :/

  Dennis, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  I bought 2 myself and "convinced" all my friends to buy one too.

  LeSomeGuy, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  The Nintendo DS came out in late 2004, and still it seems "new" to me. Maybe because i grew up older. Anyway, the press too is still calling the current generation of consoles "next gen", so I am not alone.

  Olpus Bonzo, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  For me, it's called "next gen" until the next "next gen" is announced. Then it's currect gen :)

  Dennis, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Same here. I got mine when it was first released and it doesn't really seem past it just yet.

  Hells Zargon, 30-11--0001 at 00:00