History. History, if we use it as such, can offer us insight into the present and future, sometimes with such clairvoyance that we consider some folks to be borderline fortunetellers. But enough with the philosophical BS. Looking at the archives of the life the DS has travelled, I can't help but be amazed at its incredible success. Especially considering how it was mocked and hated early on. In contrast, the PSP, with its better technology. brand recognition, and multi purpose use was favored to destroy the DS. The only games that sold on the DS were Nintendo games; Mario this, Mario that, Nintendogs, brain training etc. Third parties were mostly absent as resources were poured into the psp, for they believed, along with many analysts that psp was going to be the future of the handheld industry. Boy were they wrong.

I remember gaming websites having both handhelds being compared in many editorials DS vs PSP, and most gave the nod to the psp. I remember when the DS was called a fad, a handheld plagued with little third party support and swamped with shovelware. I remember when the Psp was released and began taking away the DS' thunder, I remember when the DS had a gaming drought in Japan.

What I can't remember is when the "flood" happened. When games of all genres began coming from all publishers and when finally the DS became the Handheld of this generation, adored by both the "casual audience & Hardcore audience". Maybe someone with better knowledge of the history of this occurence can shed some light on this for me. Whatever the case, the DS will in all likely hood become the best selling handheld system of all time. Nintendo really hit the jackpot with their handheld.   

It only became the darling of the industry when they realized that it had become the darling of the customers.

It's best to compare it with the busting of a dam. It starts with a crack and some water trickles through. Then the crack gets bigger and bigger as water starts pooring through more profusely. Before you know it, you got a gigantic hole that keeps growing as there is hardly any dam left.

It started happening in 2007 and then really happened in 2008. This will be the best year ever for the DS though. The release list is already monstrous.

So in 2005 it was released and it took until 2007 and 08 to really get going. interesting. You feel 09 will be even better? That is just insane, has the system peaked yet?

its only seen that way on the internet. with the average hardcore gamer the GayS is a joke. therefore all its games are a joke and it cant compete with the amazing PSP

. *looks at his gf's DS...* I blame Pink DS at the end of 2006... seriously...

The DS had few things going for it when it first came out. It was ugly. It had one bland color. Mario DS was its main mover and it was a port of an old N64 game. Great but not enough to completely hang your hat on. Well it also had zookeeper, which is still one of my favorite DS games. The PSP seemed poised to beating Nintendo at the game they themselves had invented. Nintendogs stemmed the tide, and really started the DS onto the path to mega platform. Everything else, the constant release of top end titles, the release of the DSLite, the release of different colors, all of those things culminated in the DS beating a PSP that was quite a success in its own right.

Is that a blog like HipHopgamer or Badassgamer?? xD

I don't think the DS will ever peak. I think it could sell about 400 million in 2014.

I'm under the assumption that thus far the DS is performing better than the same time last year, so no I don't believe it's peaked yet.