Five million DS gamers play online with Wi-Fi Connection

James Delahunty
1 Jun 2007 5:28

Nintendo of America has announced two new milestones for its DS handheld console. Over 5 million unique users have played online using the Wi-Fi Connection service since the platform launched back in November 2005. All in all, over 200 million gameplay sessions have been achieved by the Wi-Fi Connection. Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl have been the five most popular games for online play out of about 65 available.
"Nintendo DS gamers globally use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection as an easy, fun place to find fellow players, all without paying anything extra for the service," commented Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "The milestones represent millions of hours of fun and camaraderie despite miles between players."

Nintendo's data has also shown that DS purchases have increased by 42% among women, 127% among people over the age of 30 and 212% among people over the age of 35. This shows that Nintendo is achieving its goal of attracting a broadcast audience instead of just the stereotypical young male gamer.
The Nintendo DS console sold over 470,000 units in the United States in April alone (16,000 per day).

Source:
GameDaily BIZ