"Some people might think that, given the huge sales of the Brain Training series, there can't possibly be anyone out there who hasn't played it, but that's not true at all", says Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. "Compared to the number of consoles sold, the amount of software sold doesn't even come close."

New DSiWare title Little Bit of Brain Training offers new players bite-sized bursts of brain training and chance to laugh like a maniac. What's more, the game offers seasoned players a tweaked version for those who are especially adept at boasting their gray matter age.

Brain Age developers found that players tended to stop playing once their brain age hit the sweet spot of 20 years old, and thus, have added a new character who appears and gives players harder tasks. Nintendo's current task? Make sure everyone who owns a DS plays Brain Age. The end.

Iwata Asks - Volume 6 [Nintendo via Siliconera]

Last year, 11.2 million DSes were sold in Europe, bringing the region's lifetime sales to over 31 million DSes.

If that's not impressive enough, read about it in the press release below. It's in German. Everything sounds more impressive in German. Everything.

Nintendo of Europe gibt Verkaufszahlen für 2008 bekannt

Die anhaltend starke Nachfrage nach Wii und Nintendo DS hat 2008 in Europa zu Rekordumsätzen mit beiden Spielkonsolen geführt.

Die Umsatzkurve für Wii auf dem europäischen Markt wies im vergangenen Jahr weiter nach oben: 2008 wurden 8,3 Millionen Exemplare der TV-gebundenen Konsole verkauft. Das entspricht einer Steigerung von 58 Prozent gegenüber 2007 und ist die höchste Verkaufszahl, die eine Heimkonsole in Europa jemals in einem Jahr erreicht hat. Damit stehen in europäischen Haushalten insgesamt über 14,2 Millionen Wii.

Auch der Nintendo DS – seit drei Jahren im Handel – brach erneut alle bisherigen Umsatzrekorde: Die tragbare Konsole ging im vergangenen Jahr 11,2 Millionen Mal über Europas Ladentische. Für den europäischen Markt ist dies die höchste Verkaufszahl, die jemals innerhalb eines Jahres mit einer einzelnen Konsole erzielt wurde. Insgesamt haben sich die Europäer bis heute über 31 Millionen Nintendo DS zugelegt.

„Die Umsatzentwicklung der beiden Konsolen Wii und Nintendo DS sowie der zugehörigen Software im Jahr 2008 zeigt, dass immer mehr Menschen in Europa Videospiele als Unterhaltung fest in ihr Alltagsleben integriert haben", sagt Laurent Fischer, Managing Director Marketing & PR von Nintendo of Europe. „Und sie zeigt auch, dass sich Nintendos Bestreben, die Gamer-Gemeinde zu vergrößern, in Europa auf ein starkes Potenzial stützen kann."

Iwata sees DS sales as something that will continue to grow. His logic:

Some say the market for the DS is saturated, but I disagree. In Japan, a country with a population of 127 million, we've sold 23 million DS units. The United States is inhabited by over 300 million people, and there are more than 490 million people in the European Union. Sales of the product could grow further in foreign countries considering their populations.

Emerging markets for the DS, according to Iwata, include the likes of Russia and India. The Nintendo exec isn't only optimistic about DS sales, but also the gaming industry as the global economy craters.

"However, the current economic recession is something that happens only once in 50 or 100 years. We have to monitor the market very carefully," says Iwata. "Nintendo workers who know only the good times of the company are increasing. I hope to give them a sense of the potential critical nature [of the economic situation]." Just tell them stories about the GameCube days. That should do it.

Nintendo head upbeat about gaming [Yomiuri via Endsights via Go Nintendo]