Given Nintendo arguably has the heftiest back catalogue of any major publisher, DSiWare's first year hasn't lived up to the weighty expectations of many.

Nonetheless, Nintendo appears keen to celebrate this milestone; the company announcing that more than 150 games are currently available on the service.

The right market

"In just one year, the Nintendo DSiWare service has offered more than 150 downloadable games and applications that illustrate the service's reputation as a playground for creativity," the firm said in a statement.

"Thirdparty developers, big and small, have taken advantage of the unique properties of the Nintendo DSi system to create some outstanding software."

No one can doubt the strength of the DS platform as a whole – sales estimates suggesting more than 125 million are currently in the hands of consumers worldwide –  but questions remain as to how the platform's app store stacks up against its mobile-based competitors.

DSiWary

Apple's App Store, for instance, was already hosting around 50,000 apps within its first year. The current total sits somewhere within the range of 170,000.

While, of course, this includes apps of all genres, estimates suggest games make up around 20 percent of all of those available, putting the figure at around 34,000 games.

Android too can boast 30,000 apps of its own – as of mid-March – and RIM has claimed BlackBerry App World is now 6,000 apps strong, the platform recently also celebrating its first birthday.

Still, Nintendo is lining up further titles to launch on the service, including first-party projects such as Nintendo’s Photo Dojo (which uses the device's camera to put players in the middle of a side-scrolling fighter), Metal Torrent and X-Scape joined by thirdparty franchises including Earthworm Jim, Frogger and Tetris Party Live.