DS software sales hit 100 million in Japan

We're used to reporting DS console sales figures from Japan, usually for reasons such as: it's sold out, it's selling five times more than all the the other consoles and, oh look, it's just sold another million units. Yes, the DS is a popular console – especially in Japan.

Today though, its software sales figures are in the spotlight as, according to official number-counters Media Create (and picked up by MCV), 100 million games have now been sold for the console in Japan since its launch. Which means there are a lot of people out there playing with Mario.

New Super Mario Bros tops the sales list, having shifted over five million copies, while Brain Age 2 (More Brain Training) comes in second place with over four million units sold. No third-party publishers appear in the top ten, which demonstrates once again Nintendo's skill for making the best – or at least the most popular – games for its own consoles. And billions of yen in the process.

The DS itself has sold around 22 million units in Japan, which gives the handheld a healthy ratio in terms of software to hardware sales, too. (Something it can't claim in the west, according to the last set of figures we saw.)

Here's the top 10 in full:
1. New Super Mario Bros (5,174,163 units)
2. Brain Age 2 (4,835,159)
3. Animal Crossing DS (4,693,662)
4. Brain Age (3,771,440)
5. Mario Kart DS (3,042,753)
6. Pokemon Diamond (3,005,505)
7. Pokemon Pearl (2,490,564)
8. English Training DS (2,216,322)
9. Mario Party DS (1,706,506)
10. Big Brain Academy (1,654,285)