While North Americans are currently bracing for the impact of the Sony PSP, European gamers are still patiently awaiting their chance to experience the next generation of handheld gaming. And, in just seven short days, their chance will come. On March 11, the Nintendo DS will make the jump across the pond and into 30,000 stores in over 20 European countries. Nintendo has confirmed that 650,000 DS units will be available and ready to distribute by launch day. Still, when you consider that this only averages out to 20 DS units per store, you can likely expect widespread shortages. Accompanying the hardware will be 2.5 million units of software, with assembly lines capable of producing 144,000 additional units every day. Now I ask, how much of a blow does this deal to the PSP, which, for at least thirteen days, will only be available in one major market? And does Nintendo have their manufacturing priorities backward, considering the current worldwide sales ratio of DS hardware to software?
