The Microsoft Xbox 360 game console has finally topped the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles in Japan, where the U.S.-based company outsold the two Japanese companies last week.
From Sept. 8 to 14, Microsoft sold 28,681 Xbox 360 game consoles, compared to Nintendo's 27,057 and Sony's 8,050 game consoles sold during the seven-day period. Since its debut in Japan in December 2005, the console has sold only 700,000 units, while the PS3 has sold more than 2 million, and the Wii is quickly approaching 7 million units sold.
Even though it's just one week, Microsoft has had difficulty trying to market its next-generation game console to a nation where the Wii has reigned supreme. An early September price cut in Japan, in which the price of the Xbox 360 dropped to as low as $189, helped spur sales. In fact, global price cuts greatly increased sales numbers the first week after Microsoft drastically slashed prices.
The release of Square Enix's Infinite Undiscovery, which sold 86,708 units, also helped boost Microsoft's sales numbers.
There is still no official word of a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360, although rumors are still popping up across the Internet of an add-on in time for the holiday shipping season. E-mails to Microsoft officials were not answered in time for publication.
It will be interesting to see if Microsoft is able to carry this momentum in Japan throughout the holiday shopping season, which is still a couple of months away.
