Nintendo DS Sales Hit 1 Million In Europe

Sales of the Nintendo DS portable system are staying strong in Europe, as Nintendo reports 1 million units sold three months after the portable's launch in that territory. The DS debuted with 500,000 systems sold within the first three weeks, making the second half of its total to date a little slower in coming. "The European launch of Nintendo DS has been a massive success," said senior director of European marketing Jim Merrick, "with sales shattering all previous records in the opening weekend and remaining consistently strong." The new European figure brings the total Nintendo DS worldwide sales up above 5 million, according to Nintendo. There's no European hardware sales comparison for the PSP yet: Sony's rival handheld is yet to launch in Europe, but is due out throughout Europe on September 1st, after which a better worldwide comparison of the two handhelds will be possible, since the PSP and the DS will both have launched in all major territories. Though both Europe and the U.S. have been somewhat denuded of DS software recently, the company is working on remedying that in both territories: the U.S. has just received Kirby: Canvas Curse, while in the coming months both territories will get Meteos, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Bomberman DS, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, Castlevania DS, The Sims 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.