Annual DS sales down in Japan, PSP up

The mathemagicians over at NintendoDojoFR have been working on their annual sales figures number crunch, which reveal that the DS saw a whopping 82 per cent drop in 2008.

Despite this being quite a sensational figure, the graphs, charts and sums show the DS had enjoyed two phenomenal years previously and a decline in sales was inevitable - there probably weren’t that many Japanese gamers left who didn’t already own one.

It also highlights the probable train of thought behind Nintendo’s rejuvenation of the hardware brand in the DSi, which successfully spiked the sales figures toward the end of 2008.

The PSP hardware update also appears to have paid off, as Sony’s beleaguered handheld gained an extra 15 points on 2007’s sales though it still only outsold the DS (with its 82 per cent drop) on a couple of occasions early on in the year.

Considering the wintery economic climate, none of these sales figures is particularly disappointing. This is aging hardware, after all, so if they managed to keep their manufacturers on life support until we start buying again, that’s no bad thing.