UK DS sales reach 1 million

Nintendo has announced that sales of its DS handheld have passed one million units in the UK, with the fairly significant milestone being reached less than twelve months after the device was launched here.

According to the Japanese publisher, several major retailers in the UK continue to be completely sold out, leaving many gamers disappointed as they await fresh supplies in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, Nintendo said that almost three and a half million units had been sold across Europe since the DS was launched in March 2005, and worldwide sales are now well north of 13 million.

It's all been helped along the way by a continuous stream of original software titles, including the likes of Nintendogs, which has sold 1.6 million copies in Europe since October. New releases for 2006, including the highly anticipated Animal Crossing: Wild World (Japan's best-selling game for 2005 despite being launched two weeks into December, fact fans!) and the Brain Training range of titles, are expected to boost the already impressive sales figures.

The continued lack of stock in retail stores both in the UK and over in Japan has fuelled speculation about a new, compact version of the DS being announced shortly, but Nintendo of Europe has dismissed the idea, telling our sister site GamesIndustry.biz that an imminent redesign was nothing more than "pure speculation and rumour."