Somewhere in the world, on March 6, 2009, the 100 Millionth Nintendo DS was purchased. That puts the popular portable gaming system on track to over take sales of the Game Boy, which has sold 118 million units and within striking distance of the most popular gaming system ever (in terms of sales), the PS2, which has shipped roughly 140 million units. By comparison, the Xbox 360 has sold 28 million units.
This is an astounding accomplishment when you consider that the original DS was released in late 2004. At it’s launch, the DS revolutionized hand-held gaming with its dual screens (hence the name, DS), voice-recognition capabilities, and now ubiquitous-touch screen interface. The DS was followed by the DS Lite, a slimmer rectangular version of the square DS and both are about to be joined by the radically upgraded DSi, which launches in the US on April 5. The DSi includes two cameras and the ability to record, manipulate and play sound files, plus the potential for gamers to personalize their DSi experiences.
We will be watching to see how sales of the DSi contribute to the DS’s growth. After passing the Game Boy’s sales, the next milestone for the DS will be besting the number of PS2’s sold. Anyone want to place bets on when that will happen?