North American DS sales approach 2 million; Electric Blue model inbound

Nintendo has confirmed that sales of the DS handheld console in North America are rapidly approaching the 2 million unit mark - and is planning to launch a new Electric Blue version of the hardware there in June.

However, there's been no indication as yet from Nintendo of Europe about when new DS hardware varieties will arrive on these shores, with a spokesman confirming to GamesIndustry.biz this afternoon that there are "no plans at present, and no announcements have been made" regarding the Electric Blue model.

The numbers from North America mean that the DS, which launched before Christmas, has sold around twice as many units in the territory as the PlayStation Portable, which launched in late March with an initial shipment of a million units.

Nintendo will undoubtedly be hoping that with the arrival of a new colour, it will be able to replicate its recent sales success in Japan, where the launch of two new varieties of DS hardware spurred the console to overtake week to week sales of the PSP for the first time since the start of the year.

The firm is also lauding the launch of two key software titles for the DS in June, with Kirby Canvas Curse arriving on June 13th, followed by the eagerly awaited Meteos - the latest title from Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguichi's Q Entertainment studio - on June 27th.