Wii Dominates Japanese Market

Nintendo’s Wii has demolished the opposition in August Japanese sales figures.

The Wii machine rolls on in Japan. According to sales figures release by game magazine Enterbrain, some 250,000 Wiis were sold there in August, compared to 80,000 Playstation 3s and a mere 11,000 Xbox 360s.   That simply mirrors the trend in other markets, where the Wii has rolled over the opposition. In the UK it became the fastest-selling console in history, with a million units going off the shelves in 38 weeks.   If you want a comparison, it took the iconic PS2 50 weeks to reach that mark. The Xbox 360 took even longer, 60 weeks.   In Japan the Wii only needed seven months to hit the three million mark. Demand has outstripped supply to the point where it will be a year before there’s no lag.   But it’s not all golden news for Nintendo. Its Japanese lead appears to be slowing. Whereas the Wii was outselling the PS3 by six to one in June, in August that moved to a mere three to one. However, Nintendo can take heart: globally the Wii is poised to overtake sales of the Xbox 360.