Whee! Nintendo Rules In Japan As Well
Written by Ankit Chaterjee
Monday, 17 March 2008
SUNDAY, Mar 16, (News Locale) - Nintendo appears to have emerged the runaway winner in the battle of the next-gen gaming consoles beating rivals Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 by a comfortable margin in Japan as well.
Media Create reveals that Nintendo sold 57,068 Wii units in Japan for the week up to March 9 as compared with 21,008 PS3s. Microsoft's Xbox 360 was a distant third managing to sell just 2,891 units.
Sony’s PSP continues to dominate in Japan outselling Nintendo's DS handheld. Some 53,924 PSPs were sold during the week in question as compared with 48,658 units for the DS.
Previously a report from the NPD group had revealed that although Microsoft had no immediate cause for concern, it was Sony's PS 3 that was ramping up sales in the wake of its Blu-Ray standard emerging the winner in the HD-DVD stakes.
The PlayStation 3 is also doing brisk business as far as game sales are concerned with Devil May Cry 4 selling 233,500 units. The NPD report also commended Nintendo saying Nintendo Wii sold 432,000 units in February.
The main thing is that the Blu-Ray triumph has given Sony a definite advantage as has some shrewd pricing in the lead up to the holiday season and thereafter.
"Consumers are recognizing the tremendous value of PS3 and we believe that Blu-ray becoming the high-def format of choice was the tipping point for many consumers," SCEA president Jack Tretton acknowledged. Another advantage for Sony is that the PlayStation 2 continues to be strong with 351,800 units being sold in February.
Source: NewsLocaleLabels: Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, psp, Sony, xbox 360 |
