No more versions of GBA

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said that there will be no more iterations in the Game Boy Advance series, despite the success of the GBA SP and GBA Micro.

In an interview with Reuters, Iwata said: "I would have a second thought about using our resources on what would be the next generation of Game Boy Advance, considering the strong support DS is now enjoying."

"The Japanese game market is now evolving around DS. We don't need to do something that will pour cold water on the situation."

Nintendo has managed to shift more than 74 million GBAs, if you count the original handheld, the SP and the Micro. They also reckon we've snapped up more than 16 million DS units since it launched in the US last November.

But Nintendo won't be able to focus all its attention on the DS over the coming months, since there's the winter launch of the Wii to worry about. Iwata promised that plenty of games will be available for the console from day one, stating: "I am aware that we cannot win user support by offering only a few titles at the launch like we did for Nintendo 64 and GameCube.

"We want to make it a double digit and we are able to do that." Titles already confirmed for launch include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the Wii Sports compilation and Ubisoft shooter Red Steel.

Iwata said he believes Nintendo can be the market leader in the next-generation console cycle, despite the fact that poor sales of the GameCube have left the Japanese giant trailing in third place this time around.

"We are fighting not with Sony or Microsoft, but with indifference among our potential customers," Iwata said.

"We are the only one who has clearly made it a mission to lure those who don't play games and those who have quit playing games, and to break down a wall in a household between players and non-players. If that goal is achieved, there is a good chance that we can be number one."