Punch Jump's Marcus Lai reports that the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for the Nintendo DS has reached five million unique users since its launch in November of 2005 -- and those users have played more than 200 million game sessions.

The most popular games on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection are Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl.

"nintendo ds was the top-selling video game hardware for the month of April, moving 470,000 units in the period," Lai writes. "Based on the company's latest internal tracking, DS purchases have increased 42 percent among women, 127 percent among people 30 and older adn 212 percent among people 35 and older."

"Nintendo DS gamers globally use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection as an easy, fun place to find fellow players, all without paying anything extra for the service," says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.

More here from Next Generation ... more here from IGN ... and the press release is here.