Puppy love takes the US by storm following launch of Nintendogs

It seems it's not just Japanese gamers who can't get enough of Nintendogs - more than 250,000 copies of the game have been sold in the US since it went on sale just five days ago.

According to Nintendo, many retailers have already sold out and new shipments are being delivered as quickly as possible. The three versions of Nintendogs and the DS console consistently rank at the top of Amazon.com's multi-platform videogame chart.

"Nearly 15 per cent of all DS owners bought Nintendogs in just a week, a virtually unprecedented adoption rate for any title on an established system," said Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime.

"And it's also helping sell new DS hardware. Coupled with a price drop to USD 129.99, retailers are reporting DS sales up between one and a half and three times previous levels."

"Last week DS comfortably outsold our portable competitors," Fils-Aime claimed.

Nintendogs lets gamers train and care for lifelike puppies using the DS's touch screen and microphone. Already a huge hit in Japan, the game is due to launch in Europe on October 7 and is hotly tipped to be Christmas number one.

Nintendo reported that military strategy title Advance Wars: Dual Strike is also selling well, though no official figures were disclosed.