The familiar success of the Wii and DS extends to Europe with some healthy new sales figures...

Nintendo report that record-breaking numbers of the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles sold out over the Christmas period as quickly as they could be restocked. In the UK, independent sales figures released by Chart Track confirm Nintendo's Wii and DS games consoles topped the must-have gifts this Christmas, with almost 200,000 Wii consoles sold in the UK over the Christmas period.

Nintendo DS further cemented its status as the market leading hardware format in the UK for 2006. The total number of Nintendo DS units sold in the UK in December topped 500,000 making it not only the best selling console of any kind in the UK this Christmas - but the best selling console of any kind in 2006.

In Europe, Nintendo's consoles accounted for over half of all European video game hardware sales in December. The DS enjoyed a record breaking Christmas experiencing its highest ever monthly sales since its launch in March 2005, with 1.7 million units being sold across Europe during December. This made it the best selling games console in Europe across all formats, both in December and 2006, by a substantial margin.

As we all know, in a matter of days the Wii was totally sold out across the continent. Since the launch Nintendo has been continually shipping more stock to retail outlets to meet unprecedented demand from both gamers and non-gamers alike. Despite selling out faster than it could be restocked, over 700,000 Wii consoles were snapped up across Europe in December 2006.

Wii software has performed equally well with more than 500,000 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess sold in December, meaning that over 70% of Wii owners purchased this game. Wii Play (coming with a free extra Wii-mote) has seen similar success with 320,000 copies sold to date, accounting for 45% of all Wii owners.

As long as Nintendo can keep the stock levels up, it doesn't look like Nintendo's revolutionary momentum is slowing down anytime soon.