Data supplied by GfK an independent market research company, confirms that despite the relative successful launch of Sony's PSP handheld system, Nintendo remains number 1 in total sales of handheld gaming systems.

The data is compiled from the launch of the DS system, to the current period (i.e. June 2006), which indicates that the DS is well ahead of the PSP in terms of sales, with 227,369 DS units sold, compared to the PSP's 161,623. In addition the Gameboy Advance platform continues to sell very well (considering the lack of software being released for the system recently), with in the same period, the GBA sold a total of 145,345 units.

It has been a well accepted fact that the main contributing factor towards to the DS market success has been the high quality software, with the likes of Mario Kart DS, Nintendogs, Metroid Prime Hunters and New Super Mario Bros all enjoying top positions in the all format charts, with the just released Brain Training today, this success is likely to follow. It is interesting to note that the top performing games have been a combination of both traditional quality games such as Mario Kart, and new experiences that take advantage of the DS abilities such as Nintendogs. With Nintendo's next console system Wii adopting a similar philosophy, it will be interesting to see whether the system enjoys similar success in the market.

Source: Aussie-Nintendo

Discuss this news at Handheld Central