Japanese Hardware: Xbox 360 Narrows Gap With PS3 During Week

Microsoft's Xbox brand has never been known to be a dominant player in Japan, but sales from the week ended June 14 show the console gaining a modest bit of momentum, narrowing the weekly gap with PlayStation 3 in the region. Media Create reported that Xbox 360 sold 8,015 units during the week versus PS3's 10,009. Weekly sales of Xbox 360 have been creeping up on PS3 for the last couple of weeks -- the prior week showed a difference between the two consoles of 3,548 units; a week before that, a difference of 8,307. Xbox 360 has been able to top weekly PS3 sales in Japan in the past, typically due to the releases of popular RPGs for the console, though it's unclear what is edging Microsoft's console up this time. For example, in February this year, the Xbox 360-exclusive Square Enix title Star Ocean: The Last Hope led Microsoft's console to top both PS3 and Wii in sales during the week. But while the home console fight for the scraps, it's the portables that continue to top the hardware sales charts in Japan. Nintendo's DSi led for yet another week with 36,872 in sales, down 38,783 last week. The PSP followed with 26,904, down from 29,070. Wii topped the home console market for the sixth week in a row, with sales of 17,177. The full Japanese game hardware charts for the week of June 8-14, 2009 are as follows: DSi: 36,872 PSP: 26,904 Wii: 18,442 PS3: 10,009 Xbox 360: 8,015 DS Lite: 5,408 PS2: 3,498