Japanese Hardware: PS3 Closes In On Leader DSi

PlayStation 3 sales appear to have stabilized in Japan following the early September launch of the new slimmer form factor -- and this week, Sony's console outsold worldwide unit sales frontrunner Nintendo Wii for the ninth week in a row in Japan. PS3 sales for the week ended November 1 were 36,061 units, just behind the typical weekly leader, Nintendo's handheld DSi, which sold 37,517, according to Japanese tracking firm Media Create. The UMD-less PSP Go also debuted in the region on the last day of the retail period. The handheld sold 29,109, close to sales estimates released by research firm Enterbrain ealier this week. Sales of the older PSP model were 34,911, although that included seven full days of sales. The Nintendo Wii, which along with the PS3 received significant price cuts, captured the fifth place spot on the weekly hardware charts with sales of 28,888. Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata recently said that the sub-50,000 weekly unit sales for the console "cannot be defined as healthy," calling the Wii's situation in Japan "urgent." Below are the Japanese hardware rankings for the week ended November 1: DSi 37,517 PS3 36,061 PSP 34,911 PSP Go 29,109 Wii 28,888 DS Lite 6,902 Xbox 360 6,047 PS2 1,966