Originally announced back in October 2008, Nintendo's DSi has been denounced by analysts, meticulously fondled, and suffered a long trip to the US and UK markets.

　　Happy DSi owners from the Australian launch night in Melbourne.

　　Now, as the dust settles after Friday's UK DSi launch, initial data from MCV shows that Nintendo's new touch-screen wonder has become the fourth-fastest-selling console in UK history. It sits behind the PSP, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo's own Wii in terms of launch sales, and for this weekend, managed to beat the sale of every other launch console combined.

　　"It's a very impressive opening couple of days considering the lack of launch software," GfK-ChartTrack's Chris Poole told MCV . The console has also managed to beat launch weekend sales for its predecessors the DS Lite and DS, though it's unclear as to whether its success in the UK will match that of Japan where 170K were sold in just two days.

　　Accompanying the strong console sales were increased DS game sales, which enjoyed a slight uplift, given that there is currently no DSi-specific software currently available outside of the DSi Ware download store.

　　When contacted about the strong sales, James Honeywell, senior product manager for Nintendo UK, commented, "We are pleased with the initial performance of DSi over its first two days. However, a launch is just the beginning, and we will continue to work hard throughout the year to try and maintain this positive start for the platform."