Wii powers past PS3 in Japan
 

TOKYO -- Nintendo's Wii game console outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February as Wii software titles dominated the best-seller list, a game magazine publisher said.

Nintendo sold 331,627 units of the Wii in the four weeks to Feb. 24, compared with 89,131 units of the PS3, Enterbrain said Thursday.

The Wii's lead on the PS3 appears to be widening: In January, Nintendo's game console outsold Sony's by almost 3-to-1.

Nintendo's own "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" for the Wii became the best-selling software for the month in Japan, with 1.33 million units sold, followed by the "Wii Fit" home fitness game, which sold 309,311 units in the four weeks, Enterbrain said.

The Wii has been leading the three-way game console battle with the PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 as its strategy of offering easy-to-play and innovative games to expand the overall game population has proved a big success.


Microsoft, whose video game business is struggling in Japan, home to both Sony and Nintendo, sold 14,079 Xbox 360 units.

Shares of Nintendo closed down 1.4% at 56,300 yen, while Sony fell 1.9% to 5,220 yen, underperforming the Nikkei average .N225, which was down 0.8%.