The Nintendo DS was first introduced by Nintendo in 2003 as their next handheld console after the Gameboy Advance SP. The DS was first released on November 21 (US), December 2 (Japan) and March 11 (Europe) to extreme success.
Since release, the DS's sales have been remarkable. Nintendo announced on February 15, 2006 that over 6 million units had been sold in less than 14 months. So popular was this console that they even ran out.
