Nintendo has announced that it has the best-selling console game, the best-selling portable game, and the best-selling game console in North America for the month of March. The announcement does not offer hard sales figures, and it does omit mention of the publisher's nigh-empty release slate for the rest of 2003, but the fact of the matter is that Nintendo is having a fine spring on the strength of The Legend of Zelda and the Game Boy Advance SP.

The Wind Waker initially shipped 1.1 million copies to the US market, and Nintendo states that retailers "are quickly burning through" that supply, although no sales figures are offered to back that up. Nintendo also claims a 20% jump in Gamecube hardware sales on the strength of the new title's arrival. Meanwhile, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire have shipped 2.2 million units in the United States, supported by the shipment of 800,000 Game Boy Advance SPs to retail.

"At what is traditionally a slow time of the year for video games, Nintendo has seized the sales initiative," says Toys R Us game buyer Richard Simone. "With their blockbuster products Game Boy Advance SP, The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon, they're a big part of why video games are one of the truly bright spots at retail."