January 11^th, 2005 (10:27am) - Nintendo Australia Pty Limited has confirmed a February 24th nation-wide launch of the Nintendo DS at SRP$199.95 with embedded messaging and communication tool Pictochat. For a limited time at launch, Metroid Prime Hunters : First Hunt demo will also be included.

With 2.8 million Nintendo DS units sold in North America and Japan alone, the initial shipment of units into Australia far outweighs any hardware launch in the history of Nintendo in this country.

"With the astounding US and Japanese results we are excited to confirm when this amazing interactive entertainment system will become available to Australian consumers" says Rose Lappin, Director of Sales and Marketing, Nintendo Australia. "At the end of February the Australian public will witness a redefining moment in interactive entertainment that will cement Nintendo as the major innovative force of this industry".

More than 100 companies have signed on to create games for the sleek silver and black Nintendo DS, while Nintendo itself are already developing its first 20 titles including Super Mario 64 DS and WarioWare: Touched! which will be available on launch in Australia with Pokemon Dash releasing shortly after.

The complete line-up of games for the Australian launch of Nintendo DS will be announced shortly.