Nintendo DS Touches The Hearts Of Europe

21st NOVEMBER 2006 - Since its launch in March 2005 the Nintendo DS has enjoyed meteoric success with a staggering seven million consoles sold across Europe and six Nintendo DS games breaking the coveted one million sales mark with ease.

Nintendo's Touch! Generations range has sparked the imagination of people around the world. Sales of the innovative software continue to soar across Europe with Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain? shattering the one million mark. Animal Crossing: Wild World, which lets you experience a joyful and exciting second life, has also attracted over a million people to its world and puppy phenomenon Nintendogs has sold over 4 million copies in Europe.

Nintendo's gaming titles have seen similar success with the portly plumber, Mario, enjoying three huge hits with New Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario 64 both breaking the one million sales mark and Mario Kart DS selling over 1.5 million copies.

Laurent Fischer, European Marketing Director for Nintendo commented,

"We are delighted by the success of the Nintendo DS and DS Lite and especially pleased to see that we have exceeded the one million mark with games that appeal to both non-gamers and traditional gamers. Nintendo is proud of its role in expanding the gaming market and we hope to continue this success with the launch of Wii in Europe in December."

Since the release of titles like Nintendogs and Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain? Nintendo has seen sales to non-traditional markets increase drastically, with an impressive 44% of Nintendo DS owners being female. With a host of new and exciting Touch! Generations titles scheduled to launch in the near future, Nintendo hopes to continue to reach all new audiences.

And it's not just Nintendo's first party games that have excelled on the Nintendo DS this year; third party games are also enjoying success.

John Parkes, EMEA Marketing Director, Ubisoft commented,

"The Nintendo DS has opened up a wealth of opportunities for us this year and we are thrilled with the sales performances of our key games. We are looking forward to publishing a whole host of new and exciting software for the Nintendo DS as we move into 2007."

For all the latest information on Touch! Generation titles please visit www.touchgenerations.com. Click onto www.nintendo-europe-media.com for all of the most up to date official information on Nintendo.

For further information please contact the Nintendo Press Office on 0207 307 3103

Touch Generations

Nintendo recognises that everyone is different and has different interests and requirements from their games. Touch! Generations is a new range of software developed by Nintendo, which will appeal to people of all age groups, irrespective of ability or experience. All Touch! Generations software will be clearly labelled with the new Touch! Generations logo, allowing people to instantly identify these unique titles.

Touch! Generations titles currently available for the Nintendo DS include: Nintendogs, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? Electroplankton, Big Brain Academy, Tetris DS, 42 All Time Classics, English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills and Sudoku Master.

About Nintendo

Nintendo Co., Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan, is the acknowledged worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment. To date, Nintendo has sold more than 2.2 billion video games worldwide and more than 387 million hardware units globally, creating such industry icons as Mario® and Donkey Kong and launched franchises like The Legend of Zelda® and Pokémon. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular video game systems, including home console units such as the Nintendo 64, NINTENDO GAMECUBE, and the forthcoming revolutionary new console Wii, as well as portable handheld gaming systems such as, Nintendo DS. Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy - the world's best-selling video game system which has sold over 193 million units. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe.