Japanese PS3 sales trump Wii in March
updated 12:05 pm EDT, Mon April 6, 2009
PS3 outsells Wii in Japan
Gaming titles from Sega Sammy and Capcom are being credited for boosting sales of Sony's PS3 gaming console beyond those of Nintendo's Wii for the first time in 16 months in the companies' home market of Japan. The conclusion came from Japanese magazine Enterbrain, which announced on Monday that sales in Japan for the PS3 in a five-week period ending on March 29th totaled 146,948, nearly 48 percent higher than rival Nintendo's 99,335 sales of the Wii system and more than three times more examples than the 43,172 Microsoft Xbox 360 units that traded hands.
The Japanese equivalent of Sega Sammy's Yakuza 3 and Capcom's Resident Evil 5 were the top two selling titles during the same time period, helping to push the PS3's sales up.
Despite the local dominance, analyst Etsuko Tamura from Mizuho Investors Securities believes it's unlikely Sony will outsell the Wii worldwide. The Japanese market has historically been more receptive to the PS3 and has received a wider range of exclusives in that country. Japan is also home to Sony's most aggressive PS3 pricing and has regularly been hostile to the Xbox 360, which lacks the abundance of RPGs and other games that Japanese commonly prefer.
