GBA SP tops a million in the USA
Nintendo's redesigned handheld console, the GBA SP, has sold through some 1.1 million units in the USA in the ten weeks since it was launched - which means it's been selling ten units a minute non-stop, fact fans.
Nintendo's redesigned handheld console, the GBA SP, has sold through some 1.1 million units in the USA in the ten weeks since it was launched - which means it's been selling ten units a minute non-stop, fact fans.
To celebrate this success, Nintendo is planning to release two new colours of the system in the USA in September, namely Onyx and Flame - that's black and red, to you and I - joining the existing Platinum (silver) and Cobalt (blue) versions.
We're not sure how well this whole colouring thing works for Nintendo (although we do confess to a secret hankering for a Platinum GameCube), but the company is obviously keen on it - as well as the new US colours for the GBA, Nintendo Japan has just announced a frankly foul-looking mint green Cube to accompany the launch of Namco's Tales of Symphonia.
GBA SP has been a massive success for Nintendo so far, with the 1.1 million sales in the US adding to massively strong sales in Japan since the console was launched there in February. European sales of the device have also been fairly strong, with over half of the first shipment of the console sold through in the first weekend on sale.
Vitally, the device seems to be bringing the GBA to new audiences rather than just providing an upgrade path for existing GBA owners - with a number of retailers commenting that purchasers of the system are largely new buyers, and often older than buyers of the original model.