Nintendo remained seemingly untouchable in January according to the latest NPD stats, and has claimed that the growth seen in both the Wii and DS market is helping the overall games sector by “offsetting declines on other platforms”.

The overall January market in North America grew by $150m compared to 2008 – Nintendo is isolation saw growth of $300m, however.

Wii sales increased by 148 per cent to 680,000 units, bringing lifetime sales of the console in the territory to over 18m. DS sales also climbed 99 per cent with 510,000 units sold – lifetime sales of the handheld now top 28 million.

“Nintendo’s significant contribution to January’s industry growth validates our internal research showing that Nintendo continues to expand the gaming audience,” Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway stated.

“We are excited to see that consumers, new and existing, are choosing to entertain themselves in new ways with the diversity of our software lineup.”