While most sectors of the economy are tanking and the consumer electronics industry, in particular, has been hit by massive layoffs and plant closures in the face of disasterous big-ticket item sales, the game console industry has come through relatively unscathed.

So, we should not be surprised to hear, in the midst of general doom and gloom, that Nintendo’s popular portable game console, in all its versions collectively, recently clocked its 100 millionth sale.

The latest incarnation: Nintendo DSi

Nintendo says the DS reached that milestone in just four years and three months, the fastest any game industry gadget has ever done so. The DS’s predecessor, GameBoy, took over 11 years to reach the 100 million unit sales mark.

“We are hoping to be accepted and loved by everyone by delivering novel entertainment and surprises so that there will be not only a Nintendo for every household but a Nintendo for every person,” the company said, in an exuberantly optimistic statement.