DS sales took a massive hit this year, with Nintendo’s latest finanical report revealing worldwide unit sales of 6.69 million over the six months ending September 30, 2010. While that’s nothing to scoff at, the figure represents a significant decline of 42 percent — down from 11.7 million last year over the same time period.

Of course, with the 3DS looming on the horizon, it’s not surprising to see the DS hardware sales falter for the first time since… forever.

As a result, net sales took a steep decline, to 363.2 billion yen from 548.1 billion yen the previous year. Wii sales attributed to the decline, albeit not as sharply. Nintendo shifted 4.97 million Wii units, compared to 2009’s 5.75 million.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, the company is projecting unit sales of 4 million and 15 million for 3DS hardware and software, respectively. That gives Nintendo a sales window of about one month. It’s hardly a lofty goal when you factor in how many DS owners out there are anxiously awaiting to make the transition, we reckon.

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