Strong sales from the Nintendo DS and Wii contribute to a high selling period in America.

Thanks to impressive sales from the Nintendo DS and Wii systems in the states, February hardware sales rose spectacularly by 98 per cent, according to the latest data by NPD.

The DS remained dominant as it shifted 485,000 units, whilst the Wii continued its strong surge in the US with 335,000 units, despite shortage concerns from both retailers and Nintendo.

"We're gratified that the explosive appeal of the Wii, in terms of both new players and new ways to play, has created unprecedented demand, substantially beyond supply," commented Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo in North America.

Nintendo were also strong on the software front, with three of the biggest sellers being Nintendo exclusive titles. Wii Play and Diddy Kong Racing DS both sold 371,000 and 262,000 copies respectively, whilst The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess sold 130,000. Impressive sales, and it's also great to see Twilight Princess still up there competing.

By comparison, Sony's next generation home console offering, The Playstation 3 only managed to shift 127,000 units, and it was outsold by both the PSP (176,000 units) and the Playstation 2 (295,000 units). Extraordinary stuff.