According to new sales figures recently released by data researcher GfK Chart Track, the Nintendo Wii now has a large lead in the number of consoles sold in the United Kingdom. This was achieved when the Wii installed base grew a very impressive 2.5 million consoles in the last year.

Sales have been so strong for the Wii that Nintendo commands almost 50 percent of console market with 3.6 million units sold compared to a combined total of 3.7 million units sold for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Nintendo is also having great success with the Nintendo DS whose total sales jumped from 3.8 million to 7.1 million units since last September.

Overall, UK sales for all systems have virtually doubled in the past year to 17.3 million systems sold. Retailer The Game Group has predicted that by Christmas time the DS will have sold 8.3 million units, and the Wii will have climbed to 4.9 million units.