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Amazon 3DS pre-orders now more than double Wii

Record-breaking response beats PlayStation 3 reservations by 71% at UK retailer

Pre-orders for the Nintendo 3DS are now more than double that for the Wii at Amazon.co.uk, as the new portable console continues to exceed previous record holder the PlayStation 3.

Although the online retailer has released no pre-order figures it previously indicated that pre-orders for the 3DS had beaten that of the PlayStation 3 by 20 per cent. Now exactly a week later that figure stands at 71 per cent.

3DS pre-orders are also double that of the Wii and more than five times that for the Nintendo DSi.

3DS products already feature twice in the top ten bestsellers chart on Amazon, with games including Ridge Racer 3D, Pilotwings Resort, Super Monkey Ball 3D, Rayman 3D and Super Street Fighter IV occupying slots in the top twenty hot future releases.

Accessories such as screen protectors and cases also feature prominently in Amazon's own dynamically updated lists. Although at time of press the number one title on the Hot Future Releases list is Zumba Fitness on the Wii, with the Aqua Blue 3DS console at number two.

The top five most pre-ordered consoles at Amazon.co.uk are the Nintendo 3DS, the PlayStation 3 (launched in March 2007), Wii (December 2006), Kinect (November 2010), and PlayStation Move (September 2010).

Due for release on March 25 the Nintendo 3DS is currently priced at £187 on Amazon. This is one of the cheapest price tags at any major retailer, after an intense price war between stores following Nintendo of Europe's failure to set a recommend retail price.

"It's unusual for a handheld console to attract this amount of excitement in the run up to launch, such high levels of interest are normally reserved for the play-at-home hardware like the ground-breaking Nintendo Wii and last year's Microsoft Kinect ," said Chris Poad, director of video games at Amazon.co.uk.

"Nintendo 3DS is launching at a time when interest in all things 3D is incredibly high and with the promise of real 3D graphics without glasses, it's a real breakthrough in handheld video game entertainment."

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David Jenkins

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