Nintendo Wii sells 5 times the PlayStation 3

In the Japanese market, home to both the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3, for every 5 lightweight gaming machines, Nintendo's amateur has just 1 PS3 sold.

This statistics, published by Japan's highly regarded gaming magazine Enterbrain this morning, and immediately, made investors worried about a gloomy future embracing Sony ahead.

At the end of the fiscal year 2006 - 2007 (closed on March 31), Sony's gaming division lost 232 billion yen, equivalent to 1.91 billion USD.

The main reason is because the production costs for PlayStation 3 are too high, bringing Sony's gross profit and making the game division the most risky agent in the entire recovery process of the Japanese giant.

Nintendo's Wii game console.Source: Reuters

In May 2007, Nintendo sold more than 251,000 Wii units, while Sony sold only 45,000 PS3s. The difference between the two products in April is 4: 1, which means that for every 4 Wii units sold, there will be 1 PS3 "go".

The Wii game console was officially released by Nintendo in November last year, featuring a sensor controller with player movements. If the screen shows swords, you can swing the joystick in your hand as if you're fighting in a mortal battle. Likewise, swing your controller as if you were playing tennis.

Mission impossible?

Sony also released the PS3 late last year, but due to the high price and severe shortage of goods, the market demand was weak. That's not to mention the lack of attractive PS3 games.

However, Hiroshi Kamide of KBC Securities said that it is still too early to conclude that Nintendo won and Sony failed. The lifecycle of both gaming machines has not reached 1 year of age, so it is not possible to conclude "Game over" for any opponent.

Sony's goal is to ship 11 million PS3s in the fiscal year 2007-2008 (ending March next year), doubling that of 5.5 million units this year. However, according to Mr. Kamide, this goal is quite difficult.

In the US, the situation is similar when the Wii continues to be the best-selling gaming machine for the fourth consecutive month, with 360,000 units sold. Sony slumped in third place with 82,000 PS3s, losing to Microsoft's Xbox 360 (174,000 units).

Trong Cam