Prices may be low, but preorders are certainly high

3DS preorders have not only been record-breaking for Nintendo, because that kind of impact filters down to retailers too.

With about a week left to go until the 3DS launches outside of Japan, online retailer Amazon.co.uk has announced that the system has become the most pre-ordered console of all time on the U.K. website, beating previous record holders the Playstation 3, and the Wii. 3DS preorders are currently 20% higher than what was seen when the PS3 launched in 2007, and 56% more than the Wii when it launched in 2006. At the time of writing, the 3DS is listed at £187.00, and at that price, you can see why so many have been snapped up already.

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Chris Poad, Director of Video Games at Amazon.co.uk spoke about the uniqueness of a handheld console attracting this much attention pre-launch:

It’s unusual for a handheld console to attract this amount of excitement in the run up to launch, such high levels of interest are normally reserved for the play-at-home hardware like the ground-breaking Nintendo Wii and last year’s Microsoft Kinect... Nintendo 3DS is launching at a time when interest in all things 3D is incredibly high and with the promise of real 3D graphics without glasses, it’s a real breakthrough in handheld video game entertainment.

The 3DS has also attracted a substantial amount of preorders over any other model of the DS too: by 255% to be exact. The following list charts the most preordered console in Amazon.co.uk's history:

1. Nintendo 3DS – launching 25 March 2011
2. PlayStation 3 – launched March 2007
3. Nintendo Wii – launched December 2006
4. Microsoft Kinect – launched November 2010
5. PlayStation Move – launched September 2010