Wii overtakes Xbox 360 as most popular in US
updated 02:25 pm EDT, Fri July 18, 2008
Wii Overtakes Xbox 360
Research information from The NPD Group today confirmed the Wii as having surpassed the Xbox 360 for lifetime sales in North America. The motion-based Nintendo console sold about 666,100 units to North American in June and has now reached a total of 10.9 million units, just edging out Microsoft's Xbox with a lifetime total of 10.5 million. Nintendo has routinely fought to catch up with demand and is believed to have tipped the balance in June with Wii Fit and its matching Balance Board, which were available for their first full month.
Sony is continuing to struggle at third place but enjoyed roughly double its May sales at 405,000 PlayStation 3s thanks to the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4 in mid-June. The company was helped in part through its PS3 bundles that shipped the game with 80GB PS3 systems.
Nintendo has often had the advantage of both its unusual control system and lower $250 price to drive sales of the Wii, while both Microsoft and Sony have frequently charged $350 and $400 respectively for the most popular versions of their technically more capable consoles. Microsoft claimed its lead in part due to launching its next-generation console a year earlier than either Nintendo or Sony.
