New figures from Chart-Track have revealed that more than 3 million people in the UK now own a Nintendo DS or DS Lite.

According to a statement issued by Nintendo, DS was the best-selling platform during 2006 and " has already established itself as the UK market leading hardware format again so far in 2007" .

DS is also winning the battle of the handhelds, according to Chart-Track, securing a 68 per cent share of the UK market during the first three months of this year.

Nintendo attributed the handheld' s success to sales of games in the Touch! Generations range, such as Brain Training, Nintendogs and Tetris, which are designed to appeal to a wider demographic.

" It’s a great testament to the strength of the DS hardware and software range available that just as Nintendo DS has passed its second birthday here in the UK, it reaches such a landmark sales figure," said Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton.