It looks like the story of Nintendo's success has reached even the far shores of Europe. The company's next-gen gaming platforms outdid themselves, when the Wii console dethroned Microsoft's Xbox 360 as the leading console in the region while the DS gathered an astounding sales record of 20 million units sold.

For more hard numbers of Nintendo's success, check out the full article!

 

If Ms. Kidman making fun of herself wasn't motivation enough for you to get More Brain Training, then maybe two more Aussie celebrities might do the trick. Couple Kieren and Symantha Perkins will also be joining the extensive campaign for More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain?

Nintendo Australia is certainly picking a diverse group of people to promote its product. Kieren Perkins was a former Olympic swimmer, with several gold and silver medals under his belt. He is currently a member of Swimming Australia, and is considered an Australian Living Treasure. His wife, Symantha Perkins, is mother to their 3 children; she's also a TV personality, and a charity ambassador.

More Brain Training, a sequel to Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? and part of Nintendo's Touch! Generations campaign, is scheduled for a July 5 release in Australia.

Games Industry reports that new figures from Chart-Track have revealed that Nintendo's DS handheld gaming system has sold over 3 million units in the UK.

The Chart-Track figures also give the DS a commanding lead over other handheld gaming systems. It currently holds a 68 percent share of the UK market during the first three months of this year. According to Games Industry, Nintendo pointed towards sales of Touch! Generations games such as Brain Training and Nintendogs as one of the major factors for the DS's success across a much wider demographic.

"It’s a great testament to the strength of the DS hardware and software range available that just as Nintendo DS has passed its second birthday here in the UK, it reaches such a landmark sales figure," said Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton. "With many more Touch! Generations games launching in 2007, Nintendo DS and Wii will continue to be the main driving forces behind the expansion of the videogame market this year."

Not that Nintendo needs more good news but here is another one anyway. According to sales figures released by UK">Chart Track, UK’s independent music, video, and software performance and sales tracking company, the DS has sold over million units.

In fact, 2006 is Nintendo UK's year. It is now the Kingdom's market leader in video games hardware beating all competition in both the home console and handheld console markets.

But hardware isn't only Nintendo UK's moneymaker. Sales digits also say Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and New Super Mario Bros. are currently being played by over one million gamers across Europe.

The one-two punch of Nintendo DS Lite and the huge success of Nintendo’s range of Touch! Generations games has propelled the company in the top position in less than six months. Nintendo's winning streak started with the launch of the DS Lite and the combined weekly sales of DS and DS Lite in the UK has left other handheld rivals eating dust.

Nintendo UK General Manager David Yarnton said the success of the DS is due to its catalog of games that appeal to both gamers and non-gamers alike. The company isn't resting on its laurels as it plans to release many more Touch! Generations games before the year ends and usher into 2007.

Elsewhere, the DS has sold over 10 million units in Japan. The company expects to sell 20 million of these babies globally within this year. Like we said, Nintendo is up to its eyeballs with good news.

We've already been reporting on the recent success that Nintendo's been picking on their DS console, and while we've yet to figure in how big an impact their Wii will have in the long run, we have been wondering: just how much is Nintendo worth this time around?

In a nutshell: If all goes well for Mario's home company, Nintendo's net profit will be worth a total of US$ 862 million by the end of the year, at least according to Nintendo's financial report, published on October 26 this year.

Also noted in the report is their expectations for next year, which seems to indicate their faith in the Wii's success even before launch: forecasts for March 2007 indicate an expected net sales of US $6.378 billion. Quoting the report:

In order to expand gaming population in the console business as well, Nintendo will aim to popularize "Wii" (the latest video gaming console to be launched at the end of the calendar year) as an "everyday-use gaming device for all the family" allowing the new emergence of gaming console inseparable from daily lives, under the concept of "brand new days with Wii". As for handheld gaming market, Nintendo will continue to strive to gain more popularity with an expansion in software lineup by launching new types of games that expand user base such as "Touch! Generations" as well as easy accessible games to challenging games in due proportion.

Think of this as a show of optimism on Nintendo's part, with that fat a profit expected by March, we'll just have to wait and see how things will really turn out for their recently launched Wii. All we need now's a financial report from Sony and Microsoft for a better perspective. Rememeber: Wii, US$ 250; DS, (As of Black Friday) US$ 100.00; Nintendo (as of March 2007) US$ 6.378 billion, SmashymyWii: Priceless. For full details, read up on the source document.

So what Famitsu's saying is that Nintendo packed up all the contents of the Nintendo World Tour in lucky Nagoya, to spread the Wii wealth next in lucky Osaka (as scheduled). So residents - and out-of-towners itching to Wii, we can bet - flocked to the Osaka Intex (International Exhibit Center), and Famitsu was there to take notes and pictures.

Taking the stage were Wii Sports, which took the largest floor space in Intex, says Famitsu, and dedicated booths for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Sonic and the Secret Rings, and Need for Speed Carbon. But it was not all about the Wii in the World Tour, after all, as the DS Lite attracted just as much attention for Nintendogs Touch! Generations (complete with helpful little maids attendants to guide players) and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, among others.

But the sight (or the pic) that drew the tears from our eyes? It was the picture we used as a banner above. And what Famitsu said (via weblator): "From midst of the person who attends to the meeting place presenting Wii to 100 names with pulling out selection!"

Let's see if we understood the weblator right: A Wii lottery? And we were not there? NOOOOOES!!!!! KHAN! KHAAAAAAAAN!!!

(While we're consoling ourselves to missing out on such a freebie - presuming the web-lator correctly translated Famitsu, enjoy these pics of Osaka dancing to the Wii and DS. Or join us in drowning our missed-freebie miseries in a keg of auto-dispensed Asahi beer at Tokyo Narita...).

More pictures at the full article. Our tears of misery are drowning QJ staff as we speak.

The ongoing triumph of the Nintendo DS really doesn't surprise us anymore, right? Still, it's worth noting when there's another success story to be told. Because Nintendo just announced that since the launch in March 2005, six million units of the sleek little handheld (including both Original and Lite versions) have reached the hands of Europeans.

Main reasons for the impressive numbers in Europe are the Touch! Generations range of games that attempt to appeal to non-gamers as well. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is your Brain?, even surpassed the title's sales in Japan. More than 700,000 copies have sold across Europe since it’s launch, the majority of these to adults.

Another title in the Touch! Generations range, Nintendogs, has now shipped over 4 million copies in Europe alone since it's release in October 2005. Animal Crossing: Wild World managed to score over 850,000 copies.
Let's also not forget outstanding launch of the DS Lite that boosted the device's popularity to a peak. No surprise then when Nintendo says they have secured a lead in the handheld market with a 70% share of the market for eleven consecutive weeks. Also, they're boasting the fact that 44% of all DS consoles are sold to women, again demonstrating the wide target audience of the handheld.

With the Pink DS Lite soon arriving in Europe, together with a big number of potential smash hit titles, it doesn't look like DS fans have anything to worry about. What first was seen as a risky and needlessly inventive approach to handheld gaming turned out  one of the most successful consoles of all time. And when similar things will be said about the Wii in a few months, there'll be no doubts anymore - Nintendo has grabbed the crown of the video game industry again and won't be giving it away anytime soon.

Oh, Cruella de Vil. Wouldn't you just love to sink your claws into this puppy. In fact, we'll bet you're just dying to sink your claws into one hundred and one of these adorable little puppies. But no, we won't let you, not only because you're a bad ol' meanie, but also because those manicured claws of yours could permanently damage our DS touchscreens.

But since you're not Cruella de Vil, we'll treat you to screenshots of Nintendogs Dalmatian and Friends in all their spotted, tail-wagging action. The dalmatian used to be the hidden dog in previous versions of Nintendogs, which required the player to find the fireman's hat item. Now it's the star of its own Nintendogs packet. They've been set loose all over Europe last June as the first of the Touch! Generations series there, and now Dalmatian and Friends is set for an October 16 Stateside release.

      
 

Subway trains have always been brimming with ads. We've come to accept that they are and will always be fixtures in the subway scene. It's a great way to get a message across to thousands of daily commuters. So it's not surprising that a new DS advertisement promoting Touch Generations was spotted in a subway in Toronto, Canada. Yes, folks, Nintendo has now crossed over to Toronto's subway trains. If you would recall, Nintendo had a cool Japanese subway car ad for the DS way back when the handheld was first released.

It's great that Nintendo is putting out more quality ads on places we wouldn't normally expect them to appear. Kudos to them for finding even more creative ways to promote the Touch Generations games. This just gives Canadians a new cool ad to stare at while they wait for their stops. It beats staring at nothingness.

Yesterday, we featured some screens and info about the Nintendo-published game, 42 All-Time Classics. This game has become a part of the innovative Touch! Generations franchise, which is made up of games that will be the fancy of non-hardcore gamers. Some of the titles included in that said franchise are Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, Electroplankton, Big Brain Academy, and Tetris DS, among many others. So in the not so far future, you may have to share your DS not only with your pesky kid sister, but also with Dad and with Grandma. Sigh...

But going back to the game, there are some people who are expecting great things from this one since its Japanese counterpart, Daredemo Asobi Taizen, has been reaping praises from gamers not only in Japan. All the games in 42 All-Time Classics will feature a stats-tracking function, allowing you to view your wins and losses as well as other statistics for each game. Surely, this game would suit not only card game enthusiasts but also newbies. The card games aren't the only thing we should look forward to, most likely the parlour games would also be a blast!