Sony is starting to see the effects of the newly released 40GB PS3 model already in Japan as it has outsold the craze that is the Nintendo Wii for the second straight week. While many anticipated that the Wii would have a strong week with the release of Super Mario Galaxy, the PS3 was able to hold on despite the competition from one of the "heavy hitter" titles for the Wii.
It is interesting to see the PS3 doing so well upon release of such a high profile title. Past releases of games in the Super Mario franchise have usually caused a huge spike in console sales for Nintendo, especially since the current instalment in the franchise is supposed to be one of the better ones in quite some time (comparable to Mario 64).
The surge in PS3 sales comes after a price cut for the 20GB & 60GB systems on October 17 and the subsequent announcement and release of the 40GB PS3. The 40GB was released in Japan on November 11 (on the one year anniversary of the system in Japan) in both the original Piano Black color and a special, Japan-only, Ceramic White model.
Although there has been much debate about whether Sony made the right decision by removing backwards compatibility from the 40GB model and reducing the number of USB ports from 4 to 2, the system seems to be holding its own in this region. Below are the actual sales numbers for the week of 11/11-11/18:
Hardware:
DSLite: 81000
PSP: 66000
PS2: 8800
PS3: 53000
Wii: 36000
Xbox360: 5700
Source: ripten.com