Wii tromps 360, PS3 in January

Though Microsoft and Sony both had a strong post-Christmas showing of their respective consoles, Nintendo came out on top in January, Bloomberg is reporting. From the article:

Nintendo Co.’s Wii outsold Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 during January as consumers bought 436,000 of the video-game consoles. Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 was the second-most purchased machine with sales of 294,000, followed by PlayStation 3 with 244,000, Credit Suisse analyst Heath Terry said today in a report, citing NPD Group Inc. data. Wii is outselling PlayStation 3 by almost 2-to-1, the report said.

Though many would have us believe that absolutely everything absolutely sucks about Nintendo’s little white box, you can’t argue with those numbers. Those who were desperate to see a Wii ‘neath the tree this past holiday are buying them up as quickly as they become available; meanwhile, SCEA President Jack “Lollerskates” Tretton is having his outrageous claims shoved down his throat. Like it or not, the Wii’s selling. A lot.

The rush will undoubtedly quiet itself down in the coming months, but Nintendo’s got a good bit of momentum going for the Wii. Provided that first- and third-party support supplies a handful of quality games throughout 2007, Nintendo might actually stand a chance at the unthinkable: extending its market share beyond its insane fanbase. A lad can dream, right?

[Via Bloomberg]