DS demand causes handheld to sell out

With Christmas just one week away, retailers have said that demand for both the Nintendo DS and Wii has been "like nothing we've ever seen before".

“If anything demand has accelerated over the last few weeks on both formats,” HMV’s head of games Tim Ellis told MCV. “We’d have loved more stock but we knew that we’d be in this position so it’s hardly a surprise.”

E-tailer Amazon agreed, with manager Nick Arran adding: "The demand for DS and Wii is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my time in the industry.

“Every customer seems to want them. Stock has been a constant struggle throughout peak. A big thank you to Nintendo who have pulled out all the stops and are delivering weekly allocations. These are selling out within a few hours.”

And Comet’s assistant category buyer Jim Leighton said: “We are selling through all the stock we get almost immediately. The interest is overwhelming – 15 per cent of the searches on the Comet.co.uk website are for the Nintendo Wii.”