DS storms ahead in Japanese hardware sales

The Nintendo DS continues to storm ahead of the competition in Japan, with sales of the dual-screen handheld leaving home consoles behind.

For the week ended June 17, the DS sold over 118,500 units according to data from Media Create, with its closest competitor, Nintendo's own Wii, shifting just over 65,000 units.

In a week where all formats on the market - including the ageing GameCube - enjoyed improved sales over last week, Sony's PSP clocked up over 33,000 sales, a significant boost over the previous week's 24,000 units.

The PlayStation 2 continues to sell better than its successor, with almost 12,000 machines sold compared to just under 9,500 units of the PlayStation 3.

Off the back of the release of Bandai Namco's RPG Trusty Bell, which entered the charts at number two last week, the Xbox 360 saw a sales boost of 5,000 units to 7,583.

At the bottom of the sales charts are the GBA which sold 867 units and the GameCube with 223 units.