The newest color in the Nintendo DS Lite family has arrived in the land of the rising Noble Pink. Hundreds of gamers were seen in the early hours of the day lined up outside retailers with wads of cash in hand. The Pink Lite was accompanied by the release of the cooking tutorial Talk! DS Cooking Navigator. Like prior Lite releases, many men, women, and children have walked away empty handed.
The Nintendo DS Lite was initially released in Japan on March 2 in the Crystal White variety. This was followed by the colors Enamel Navy and Ice Blue on March 11. Demand for each of these respective releases was immense, fueled by games such as Brain Training, Animal Crossing and Nintendogs. Gamers and non-gamers alike lined up outside stores in the early mornings with the hope of acquiring just one. Many went home disappointed. Now we've seen as each week has passed, the DS Lite consistently sells on average of 150,000 units. These outstanding numbers have been accompanied by continued reports indicating that stores remain empty and when filled are quickly ravaged. It's known the original Lite launch was hampered by production issues related to the "bicolor molding." With the problem nearly solved, Nintendo is seeing worldwide shipments of more than two million DS units each month. Yet, even this is not enough and Nintendo hopes to push that number to 2.2 million.
Together the Nintendo DS and its Lite brother are quickly approaching 20 million units sold worldwide. This number will be met sooner than expected. Jet Black Lite is scheduled to arrive in Japan on September 2. However, it remains to be seen if Nintendo will be able to adequately quench the demand, especially with anticipated releases of titles such as Final Fantasy III and Pokemon.