Nintendo Europe reports 3.5m DS sales; worldwide sales top 13m

After announcing Japanese and North American sales figures for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo has updated its sales figures for the European market - revealing that 3.5 million units have sold in the region, with 13 million now sold worldwide.

The figures, which cover actual sell-through rather than shipments, show Japan leading the world at the end of 2005 with over five million units sold, followed by North America with four million and Europe with 3.5 million.

An additional few hundred thousand units in territories such as Australia and Latin America brings the global total for the handheld console, which launched first in the USA and then in Japan in late 2004 followed by a European launch in early 2005, to over 13 million units.

Nintendogs was the most successful title on the platform in Europe, selling some 1.6 million units since its launch in October, while Mario Kart DS racked up some 800,000 sales across the region since November.

Some of the biggest titles for the platform have yet to arrive in Europe, however; most notably DS Training for Adults: Work Your Brain, which is the most successful game on the platform in Japan and is being rebranded as "Prof. Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain?" for its European launch.

Animal Crossing: Wild World, which uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service and has sold over a million units in just two weeks in Japan, is also due to launch in Europe shortly.