Nintendo today announced it will increase total shipments of Nintendo DS to North America by 40 percent, to 1.4 million systems before the end of the year. Due to the system's popularity, many retail stores across the country are reporting shortages, and the initial batch of 500,000 units all but sold out a week after Nintendo DS launched on Nov. 21.

To date, North American retail sales have reached 700,000. In addition, sales of Nintendo DS in Japan exceeded half a million systems in just four days after launch on Dec. 2, meaning more than 1.2 million Nintendo DS systems have sold through worldwide.

"Nintendo is doing everything it can to make Nintendo DS attainable for the holidays," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "The enthusiastic response from shoppers has made Nintendo DS 'must-have' -- and we're determined to make it 'will have.'"

With its touch screen, wireless communication and voice recognition abilities, the dual-screened Nintendo DS offers video game fans innovative new ways to play. Each unit, available now at an MSRP of $149.99, comes with an embedded communication program called PictoChat(TM), as well as a demo version of Metroid(R) Prime Hunters that features both single- and multiplayer action.