New numbers from Chart Track show that the current installed base for console and handheld gamers in the UK have doubled since last year.

So which console has the largest installed base? Three guesses. Well, three's all you get since there are only that many consoles.

It's the Wii! What a surprise. The Nintendo miracle boomed from 1.1 million units from September last year, to 3.6 million last count. The DS dominates the handheld scene as well, growing from 3.8 million to 7.1 million units.

As of September 2008, there are 1.4 million PlayStation 3 units in the UK (last year, it  was only 0.4 million), and 2.3 million Xbox 360 units (last year saw 1.3 million). The PSP currently totals at 2.9 million units. The UK doesn't seem all that attached to the Sony handheld, as its number didn't grow much from last year's 2.2 million.

All in all, the installed base for all five grew from 8.8 million from last year, to 17.3 million. Way to go, UK. Anyway you slice it, doubled numbers mean good news for devs who want to sell more games, which is good news for gamers who want to see them make more games.

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