Nintendo celebrates successful Christmas

Nintendo has announced that according to Chart-Track figures, almost 200,000 Wii units were shifted in the UK over the Christmas period - while DS sales topped the half-million mark.

The Wii launched in Europe on December 8 and became the fastest-selling home console ever during its opening weekend. More than 700,000 units were purchased by European consumers, leading to empty shelves across the continent.

First-party title The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess also proved popular, with more than 500,000 copies sold - meaning that over 70 per cent of Wii owners bought the game. Around 320,000 copies of Wii Play, which comes bundled with a remote controller, were also sold.

In the UK, the number of DS handhelds sold during December topped 500,000 units. According to Nintendo, again quoting Chart-Track figures, it was not only the best selling console over the Christmas period but throughout 2006.

The figure for December DS sales across Europe stood at 1.7 million units. It was the best-selling console across the continent in 2006, and accounted for more than half of all December hardware sales.

"We have enjoyed one of the most successful Christmas holidays ever, with both Nintendo DS and Wii selling at staggering rates," said Nintendo Europe marketing director Laurent Fischer.

"We are facing such high demand for both platforms that unfortunately we are facing stock shortages. However we are doing everything possible to combat this by attempting to deliver both consoles and games to retailers on a daily basis."

Nintendo also enjoyed a successful Christmas in the US - more than 1.1 million Wii units have now been sold since launch, and 1.6 million DS handhelds were sold during the month of December alone.