European GBA SP shipments hit 2 million

Nintendo is celebrating a new milestone for the GBA SP handheld console in Europe, reporting today that it has shipped two million units of the system here - bringing the total European shipment of GBA hardware to some nine million.

Although this figure doesn't represent the actual installed base of the console, it's not far off the mark - and you can expect the see the console's installed base sail past those figures in the run up to Christmas, thanks to the launch of key titles such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which appears next week.

The company is also planning to launch two attractive new coloured versions of the GBA SP on October 24th, with the Flame Red and Arctic Blue units rolling out on that date - in plenty of time to make their way into Christmas stockings everywhere.

No word yet, however, on any price cut for the unit - which leaves it in the somewhat odd position of being more expensive than Nintendo's home console, the GameCube. Indeed, it's now as cheap in many places to buy a GameCube with a GameBoy Advance Player accessory as it is to buy a GBA SP.

Although there's no mention of the console's new rival in the figures, it seems unlikely that it's a coincidence that Nintendo has announced these figures only days after the somewhat lacklustre launch of the Nokia N-Gage - and Nokia's announcement that it hopes to sell between six and nine million of the devices next year.