The biggest selling console of 2006
UK release:11th March, 2005
Current price:£99.99
Worldwide userbase:30+ million
When the DS was first announced, in the wake of Sony's unveiling of the PSP, it was immediately dismissed as being dead on arrival.
The two screens, the bottom of which is a touch screen, was rejected as a short term gimmick and the N64 level 3D graphics considered laughably underpowered compared to its PlayStation rival.
So it was a bit of a surprise to more than a few egg-covered faces when it became the best selling console of 2006 by a considerable margin.
It once again proved the rule of the thumb that the most powerful console is never the most successful with a wide range of groundbreaking games proving far more important.
Titles like Nintendogs, Animal Crossing: Wild World and Brain Training weren't just popular with the usual games crowd either, but also with women and even OAPs buying them in significant numbers.
Graphical Power (portable):6/10
Software support:8/10
Online?Yes
Longevity:8/10
