Sales of Nintendo's DS handheld console have lead to a boom in the Japanese gaming market this year. The DS is the unrivalled king in Japan at the moment, selling thousands more than its competitors weekly, in both hardware and software. Software sales are up 30% this quarter according to a recent survey.
Market analyst company Enterbrain took data from almost 35,000 retail stores across Japan, the data shows that Q1 revenue from hardware and software sales reached 277 billion Yen (1.9 billion Euro), compared to 207 billion Yen (1.4 billion Euro) in the same period in 2005.
The DS is the main reason for this huge upturn in sales, which many predicted would get the big boost next year. Currently in the charts half of the top 10 games are DS exclusive titles. Analysts suggest that the upward trend will continue for the Japanese gaming industry with the release of the PS3 and Wii later this year.
View: Enterbrain (Japanese).
