Xbox 360 Outsells Wii In Japan

For the first time ever the Xbox 360 has outsold both the PlayStation 3 and Wii this week in Japan, according to data provided by Famitsu publisher Enterbrain. Although weekly data from regular chart provider Media Create will not be available until Friday, the Enterbrain figures show an expected sharp rise in Xbox 360 sales following new stock replenishments and a price cut for all models. Usually languishing in last place behind even the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 sales spiked in August following the release of Namco Bandai’s role-playing game Tales of Vesperia. Hardware stock was quickly exhausted though and has not been replenished until now. According to Enterbrain’s figures, as translated by website Andriasang.com, the Xbox 360 sold 28,681 units for the seven days ending September 14th. By comparison the PlayStation 3 sold 8,050 units (a relatively normal figure for the last few weeks) and Wii sales were down to a recent low of 27,057 units. Xbox 360 sales were also helped by the launch of Square Enix’s role-playing game Infinite Undiscovery, which sold 86,708 units on its debut. However, it was significantly outsold by the release of Pokemon Platinum on Nintendo DS, which managed 967,675 unit sales in just two days. This was the best opening performance ever for a single Nintendo DS game, and is expected to ensure that the hardware is again the best selling of the week. Nevertheless, the Xbox 360’s triumph is likely to have a long lasting effect on Japanese consumer and retailer confidence in the format, which Enterbrain now calculates to have sold 717,275 units over its lifetime in Japan.