TOKYO--Nintendo today announced that it has shipped more two million units of the DS in Japan and America. The dual-screen handheld made its debut in America on November 21, and went on sale two weeks later in Japan on December 2. The American launch saw over half a million units sold in its first week of release, and the Japanese launch saw the same number sell in just four days.

　　Nintendo has also announced that the handheld has sold more than one million units alone in America. In Japan, the sales of the DS have not quite reached a million yet, but the company expects to reach that number by December 24th. Nintendo plans to ship 2.8 million units of its handheld by the end of the year in both Japan and America to meet holiday demand, 40 percent more than it originally planned.

　　The DS announcement comes nine days after Nintendo's new rival in the handheld market, Sony, launched the PSP in Japan. Although the PSP has been selling out across the country, its sales numbers were less impressive than the DS's because of a smaller number of units available at its launch. Nintendo shipped 570,000 units for its Japanese launch, as compared to the smaller number of less than 200,000 units for the PSP. The PSP is being released in North America in the first quarter of 2005.

　　The DS will test another market when it is released in Europe in the first quarter of 2005. For more on the DS, visit GameSpot's DS Launch Center.