3DS is Amazon UK's most pre-ordered console of all time

Amazon UK has confirmed that 3DS is now the retailer's most pre-ordered console of all time overtaking a previous record held by PS3.

The retailer says that the handheld has seen 20 percent more pre-orders than PS3 had by its March 07 launch date, and 56 percent more than Wii, which was the last most pre-ordered Nintendo console for Amazon.

It's also beaten pre-orders held by any other DS models, with it being 255 percent more than DSi.

3DS has also appeared on the top ten bestsellers chart for the retailer, with five 3DS title all in the top 20 Hot Future Releases.

"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," said Amazon UK's director of video games, Chris Poad.

"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."

3DS launches next Friday in Europe and on March 27 in the US.