More than 4 million Nintendo DS units sold in US

Nintendo has announced that more than 4 million DS units have been sold in the US since the handheld launched there in late November 2004 - but it's still being outsold by the Game Boy Advance SP.

According to Nintendo, 1.2 million DS units were sold in the States before the end of 2004, and 3 million were sold over the course of 2005. A total of 4.6 million GBA SP units were sold last year - down from 7.6 million in 2004.

The DS is also performing well in Japan where, Nintendo said, it is the fastest-selling console ever to hit the shelves. More than 5 million units have been sold since the handheld launched in December 2004.

Key titles which have boosted DS sales include puppy sim Nintendogs and Mario Kart DS, which enables users to race each other online via Nintendo's new Wi-Fi Connection service. Nintendo said that more than 550,000 gamers from around the world have used the service since it launched in November.

Nintendo has not released any figures for European DS sales since June, when it was revealed that more than 1 million units had been sold - a figure which is likely to have more than doubled following the release of key titles and a successful Christmas sales period.