Hundreds of gamers descended on the National Media Museum tonight to set a new world record for the largest number of people playing Nintendo DS consoles in the same place.

A total of 659 people took part in the challenge, which saw them play with their consoles simultaneously for ten minutes, beating the previous world record of 586 gamers.

Colin Philpott, the museum’s director, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be kicking off our summer of fun family activities by breaking this world record and would like to thank everyone who came along to help make it happen.”

Gaz Deaves, gaming editor at Guinness World Records, who oversaw the record breaking attempt, said: “It was a great event, the atmosphere was incredible. Seeing everyone raise their DS in the air in triumph at the end was fantastic.”