Nintendo celebrated the GBA SP's first-anniversary by revealing some staggering figures about the system's success, which make the handheld the fastest selling videogame system in history. Apparently, over 6.5 million units have been shifted in North America during the first-year alone.

The sleek SP, fashioned in a more adulterated mobile phone-influenced style, makes the GameBoy Advance the best-selling iteration of the GameBoy too - the venerable series as a whole having sold some 160 million units globally to-date.

"By moving from the base model to the SP, took portable gaming from the realm of a common Volkswagen to a baby Benz," gushed Michael Pachter, director of research for an LA securities firm. "It elevated the nature of portable gaming, and gave a tremendous boost to the video game overall."

By Luke Guttridge