Surprisingly, the DSi console sold very well in the UK, which is a market that many competitors are trying to dominate. In fact, they sold even more than the original DS and DS Lite in the same 2-day period after the launch date making it the fourth fastest selling video game console. Magic wasn’t involved at all for the 92,000 units that were sold. There are some things that contributed greatly to the successful launch in the UK.

One of the first images of the DSi Console that we got to see.

Closely Packed Release Dates

UK gamers are the ones that suffer a lot with many of the games and systems due for release weeks or months after the launch in the US. This can be a lengthy wait for the DS lovers and may prompt them to find something else to do or something else to buy. This time around, the release dates were more closely packed than ever before. In fact, the European launch took place a couple days before the North American launch, leaving the UK fans relieved and excited to get their new handheld without delay.

DS Brand

Many people in the UK most probably have heard of the DS before, but never bothered to get it. The recent launch of the DSi console was more like a reminder for those people who had doubts to give the new version a closer look. With its improvements and new features, many people in the UK were attracted to buy the handheld.

Excellent Lineup of New Features

Because both the original DS and DS Lite sold very well in the UK, so many people already have them and probably don’t want to spend more money on another handheld. However, the Disc has plenty of neat features making it a bigger upgrade than the DS Lite. The bigger screen and improved speakers were welcome additions along with the new SD card slot for files to be stored and certain file types like AAC to be read. The two cameras that are built-in added more value to the unit with some future DS titles using it. The DSi Shop was among the best features that make it worth the dropping of the GBA slot.

Same Launch Price

The DS Lite made its debut with a 150 Euros price tag and now the DSi was launched with a similar price tag. People in the UK were happy about this because the added features were rather welcoming and the price isn’t too expensive for people to ignore.

It takes all of these factors combined for any handheld like the DSi console to be successful in a region. The Nintendo DSi had a very strong start and it is expected grow in sales numbers as the DSi is both for entertainment and productivity.

Nintendogs - Just £1,000,000 (maybe this wasn't a genuine sale)

5. Super Bomberman 3 – £560

I’m surprised this is so rare and valuable because I remember getting this game for my birthday 14 years ago. If only I’d never played it or taken it out of its box and stored it away in mint condition, I could be over £500 better off today.

The most expensive SNES game money can buy.

4. 36 Factory Sealed Nintendo Games – £775

You might wonder why anyone would want to pay £775 for 36 old games which you could probably pick up for around £5 separately. What’s special about this collection of Game Boy, SNES, NES, and Nintendo 64 games is that none of them have ever been taken out of their boxes. Why anyone would pay £40 for a game and not play it I’m not quite sure but it makes this collection quite special.

36 Games, but I notice two copies of Mario Land 2 and 3 copies of Mario Land 3. I'm sure they are looking to purchase 4 copies of Mario Land 4.

3. Special Super Mario Game & Watch – £800

The last Game & Watch title ever made. There were only 10,000 units produced and you could only get them by winning one. This game is similar to the NES game of the same name but the levels are entirely different. You’d be in a pretty exclusive club if you owned a copy of this game, which is why people are willing to pay so much for it.

Limited edition Mario Bros. Game & Watch comes complete with the letter which proves the game could not be bought.

2. 37 Game & Watch Games – £1,500

This must be a very rare find, 37 different Nintendo Game & Watch machines. However, despite selling for one and a half grand, this collection represents only half the games released. That really gives you an idea of how rare these games are now. Game & Watches are now best known for the two screen versions which gave their design to the current DSi console and also for Mr. Game & Watch who stars in Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii.

37 Very rare boxed, Game & Watch units.

1. Super Nintendo with 210+ Games – £1,767.17

A SNES with more games than you could possibly find time to play, let alone complete, but it would look very cool to have them on your shelf. All these games are still just a fraction of the 785 games released for the SNES. The seller miscounted though and his advert later states that there were only 199 games, but I don’t think anyone would mind too much.

34 of these. make that 41 of these (I spot another few every time I look at the pictures). How many have you played/owned/completed?” title=”snes12″ width=”300″ height=”400″ class=”size-full wp-image-81″ />

199 Games. I thought I'd played more SNES games than most people, but I've only played 34 of these. How many have you played/owned/completed?

With the release of the DSi console in Japan, its initial sales skyrocketed, even after just two days of being on store shelves; it sold 170,000+ units of the 200,000 units shipped. That’s a pretty feat that is synonymous to a good product.

The Nintendo DSi has been remodeled to have many hardware features. One of which is the addition of another camera. The .3 megapixel cameras found of either side of the console can be used in games and taking pictures. The images can then be manipulated and added with effects directly from the DSi. There is also the option to sync the images on the Wii, making it rich in features.

The size of the Nintendo DSi console has been lessened. It is now 12% smaller compared to previous a mode which translates to 2.6mm.

Another modification is the upgraded sound quality of the speakers. It may still sound less but it is definitely upped in quality because audio playback has been implemented. AAC music tracks can be played from the handheld console, doubling it as a music player.

Next are the bigger screen sizes of the DSi consoles. The size of the screen is noticeably bigger than its past models. The unit has now 3.25 inches of screen size compared to the 3 inches on older models.

There is also a significant relocation of the power switch. The switch also offers an additional feature in which it can be used to soft reset the console and switch games on the fly, making it better to swap games without powering it off.

Ram has now been upgraded to 16 MB. This figure is four times bigger than the previous models. There is also the storage of 256mb to store downloaded content, images, and firmware update which is anew to this model of Nintendo’s DS handhelds.

Although not a good feature in itself, all of the added enhancements can lead to more power drain, the battery life is not significantly lesser. The normal DS Lite battery life is 15-19 hours of gameplay but the new Nintendo DSi only plays 9-14 hours. This may be a bad aftertaste of good features but it can be negligible enough considering its rival, the Sony PSP only has a miniscule battery endurance of about 5 hours.

Great things can come at the right time. Although you can purchase a Japanese DSi consoles, the rest of the world still doesn’t have official regional versions which means you need to purchase the games specified for its region, in this case, you can only play Japanese games. All of these great features can be had in just a few months away. The worldwide launch of the Nintendo DSi will be on April 2-5, 2009.

Other surprises include the fact they were also a taxi firm and most surprisingly to me Nintendo began life in 1889. From a playing card company to the DSi console, they’ve seen a lot of changes but I think they should consider moving back into the love hotel industry.