It’s now officially official. The Nintendo DS is the biggest selling games console ever – in the UK at least. Over 10 million have been sold to people in the UK, meaning around one in six people own one.

To give you some sort of context, the DS hit 10,000,000 in just under five years. The previous record holder – the PlayStation 2 took around nine years to sell the same number of machines.

The interesting thing about the DS is that it’s success is due in very large part to the fact that it’s been designed to appeal to a very, very wide audience indeed. While the DS lacked the large-screen, movie-playing, analogue joystick sleekness of its rival, the PSP, it offered titles like Nintendogs, Brain Training, cooking guides and even classic novels.

This meant that it was being bought by people who would never, ever pick up a joypad and settle down for a few hours of Metal Gear Solid - or even Zelda. Parents, grandparents, teachers and even – unbelievably – GIRLS could pull out a DS and play with it, without attracting too many disapproving looks.

Oddly, however, this has caused some disapproval from more ‘traditional’ gamers, who say the console has nothing to offer them.

This should be the DS’s legacy in years to come. The fact it broke the games market wide open and showed that there was life beyond the established genres. The DS showed the world at large that playing and having fun is something that every demographic, generation and consumer can be tempted to try. As long as you make some form of entertainment and fun that they’re interested in. It doesn’t even have to be a recognisable ‘game’. It was a brave leap on Nintendo’s part, but one which has paid off.

Congratulations Nintendo, we salute you (again). Here’s to the next 10,000,000…