Nintendo has been forced to pull ads for its Wii console because demand is already too high to meet stock available.

The company has said that the adverts for the console, which was recently voted as The Best Gadget of the Year by Pocket-lint readers, will be replaced by adverts for its handheld console, the Nintendo DS.

A Nintendo spokesman is reported to have said: "We have been running the campaign all year round, but we want to take a responsible stance this Christmas and not fuel demand".

According to Nintendo production has been stepped up to 1.8 million units a month, however it has still not been able to meet the demand.

Last week Pocket-lint reported that the Nintendo Wii was the most searched for product by UK internet shoppers during November, according to data from internet research firm Hitwise.

There were 13 as many UK internet searches for "nintendo wii" as there were for "apple ipod", and over twice as many searches for "wii" as for both "ipod" and "iphone", reports NetImperative.

The volume of searches for "nintendo wii" has increased 158% since November 2006, while searches for "wii" have increased by 278%.