Not April Fools: Sony PS3 Outsells the Wii in Japan

No, it doesn't seem to be an April Fools prank: new titles propelled sales of the PlayStation 3 past the Nintendo Wii for the first time...in Japan.

The runaway success of the video game console market has been the Nintendo Wii, the game console that a few years ago almost nobody thought would amount to much but, thanks to an innovative controller and accessible games, has consistently outsold the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3…often by embarrassing margins. However, the citadel of Wii sales figures may not be unassailable: Japanese game magazine Enterbrain, which monitors retail sales of video games and game consoles in Japan, reports that the PlayStation 3 outsold the Nintendo Wii for the first time ever in Japan during March 2009. The reason? Two hot new titles for the PS3: Sega Sammy’s Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 and Capcom’s Resident Evil 5.

According to Enterbrain, some 146,948 PS3 units were sold in Japan during March 2008, compared to 99.335 Nintendo Wiis and 43,172 Xbox 360 unit. Not surprisingly, Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 and Resident Evil 5 were the top software titles for the month.

Industry watchers don’t see the PlayStation 3 mounting a long-term sales challenge to the popularity of the Wii, given the Wii’s huge installed base and the number of game developers who are now focusing resources on the platform due to its lower development costs and higher sales potential. Both the Wii and PlayStation 3 have been available for about 16 months; only recently have supplies of the Wii console been starting to keep up with demand reliably.