UPDATE 2-Sony PS3 tops Nintendo Wii in Japan for first time

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUST35601720071130

(Adds analyst comments, details, closing share price)

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) Wii game console in Japan in November for the first time, raising the prospect that Sony might regain its dominance in the global videogame market.

Sony, which launched the consoles a year ago, sold 183,217 PS3 in Japan in the four weeks to Nov. 25, topping sales of 159,193 Wii consoles, according to game magazine publisher Enterbrain, a key watcher of trends in the sector.

Sony dominated the game industry for about a decade with previous generations of its PlayStations but lost its crown to the low-cost Wii with its new idea of a motion sensor in the control unit.

This opened the way to a whole new range of games and even exercise programs and helped expand the gaming population beyond core users of young males to women and the elderly.

"Wii Sports", one of the most popular game titles for the Wii, allows grandparents to have a virtual tennis match with their grandchildren in a living room.

Analysts said the latest data was encouraging for the prospects of the PS3, but it was too early to paint a rosy picture for the Sony machine.

"Overseas, I don't really see the PS3 doing that much at Christmas time primarily because it's still more expensive than the other machines and has less software," KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide said.

"It's nice to see the system selling much better than six months ago. But is it a sustainable trend? Is it going to really escalate from here? I'm not so sure."

Some months saw 5-6 times as many Wii units sold as PS3s in Japan, an important battleground for the Japanese console makers and U.S. rival, Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and its Xbox 360 console.

The PS3 was hampered by a scarcity of strong game titles and a high price tag, but Sony said more games were now available and it has cut prices.

Sales have also been boosted by a new mid-range model with a 40-gigabyte hard disk drive, the company said.

In a bid to breathe vigour back into Wii sales, Nintendo will launch a "Wii Fit" home fitness game in Japan on Saturday.

The new game features a pressure-sensing mat called "Wii Balance Board", which looks like a bathroom scales and can sense when a person moves and leans, enabling players to "head" virtual soccer balls and experience ski jumping on a TV screen.

Sony shares closed down 0.5 percent at 6,010 yen, ending a five-day, 15 percent winning streak after Dubai International Capital, a private equity company owned by the ruler of Dubai, made a substantial investment in the firm.

Shares in Nintendo, Japan's third most valuable company behind Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research), gained 3.7 percent to 67,500 yen. (Editing by Rodney Joyce and Jean Yoon)

Sony already did this a few weeks ago, so this wouldn't be the first time...either that, or you are reporing Weeks old info.

I doubt you'd do that, but the PS3 has already outsold the Wii before in Japan.

The wii went back to beating the PS3 again this week. Sony had better not get their hopes up yet.

Sony already did this a few weeks ago, so this wouldn't be the first time...either that, or you are reporing Weeks old info.

I doubt you'd do that, but the PS3 has already outsold the Wii before in Japan.

SolidTy

Learn to read. PS3 topped the Wii for the month of November.

Nintendo are fixing up their Wii supplies, PS3 fanboys got a little too exited but trust me, it's over. If Wii wasn't limited on supplies, they would be outselling by heaps lately.

Erebyssial

The Wii is NOT supply constrained in Japan. :|

whats the 360's sales for November in Japan?

Zero5000X

:lol:

whats the 360's sales for November in Japan?Zero5000X

[QUOTE="Zero5000X"]whats the 360's sales for November in Japan?adastos

i think the consoles it does sell in Japan are all being bought back by Microsoft.

Sony already did this a few weeks ago, so this wouldn't be the first time...either that, or you are reporing Weeks old info.

I doubt you'd do that, but the PS3 has already outsold the Wii before in Japan.

SolidTy

This is the month that Sony first outsold Nintendo.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

Sony already did this a few weeks ago, so this wouldn't be the first time...either that, or you are reporing Weeks old info.

I doubt you'd do that, but the PS3 has already outsold the Wii before in Japan.

Amnesiacx

Learn to read. PS3 topped the Wii for the month of November.

Nintendo are fixing up their Wii supplies, PS3 fanboys got a little too exited but trust me, it's over. If Wii wasn't limited on supplies, they would be outselling by heaps lately.

Erebyssial

The Wii is NOT supply constrained in Japan. :|

Can you prove that with a link?

[QUOTE="Amnesiacx"][QUOTE="SolidTy"]

Sony already did this a few weeks ago, so this wouldn't be the first time...either that, or you are reporing Weeks old info.

I doubt you'd do that, but the PS3 has already outsold the Wii before in Japan.

Zenfoldor

Learn to read. PS3 topped the Wii for the month of November.

Nintendo are fixing up their Wii supplies, PS3 fanboys got a little too exited but trust me, it's over. If Wii wasn't limited on supplies, they would be outselling by heaps lately.

Erebyssial

The Wii is NOT supply constrained in Japan. :|

Can you prove that with a link?

dont know about him but i can give a link back in july when they said it was getting kinda easier

Japanese Wii Supply Normalizing

Getting a Wii in Japan isn't easy, it's easier. Well, easier than before at least. Akiba Blog reports that the Nintendo Wii is starting to materialize in semi-normal numbers. Since the 29th of this month, the Wii consoles seem more abundant and have been located at Tokyo retailers like Sofmap, AsoBitCity and Gamerz - with it was still sold out at Ishimaru. It's assumed that the increase in consoles has been to support the Japanese release of Mario Party 8. I haven't checked around here, so I'm not sure if this is regional to Tokyo or what. Though, from the sound of it, it *sound* be possible to walk into a store and walk out with a Wii. How about you? Able to find Wiis? Here in Japan or abroad - let us know.

ON TUE JUL 31 2007
BY BRIAN ASHCRAFT