Nintendo Wii Fanboy

For all of you keeping track of how many months the Wii has crushed the PS3, maybe it's time you got yourself a new notebook. That thing must be full. But, in all seriousness, Japan saw the Wii selling quite a bit more when compared to the PS3 last month.

How much more? Well, the Wii sold 171,851 units in the four weeks leading up to July 27th (so, really, it could've sold a lot more last month), while the PS3 only sold 54,823 units. And, as one might expect, both totally crushed the Xbox 360, which only sold 14,439 units.

We expect that the NPD data in the next few months will reflect something similar, as all of us in North America are still waiting on Wario Land: Shake It! and Mario Super Sluggers. Both of those, as well as Fatal Frame IV, have already released over there, but they pretty much don't count here as Wario and Fatal Frame released only yesterday. Sluggers released way back in June.

One of the benefits of being a major company is that you get to find out things first -- like how much stuff you sold. When the NPD Group informed Nintendo of the most recent figures, the Big N sent a love text to our Joystiq overlords, bragging about their current sales standings in the U.S.

But we already know that the Wii sells a lot, so what's the big deal this time? According to Nintendo, NPD figures confirm that the Wii has surpassed its competitors as the North American console leader. As of today, the Wii has sold almost 10.9 million units, which was enough to give it the edge over the Xbox 360.

Of course, there's much more to being the king of consoles than selling a lot of hardware, as you need the software to match. However you feel about the Wii's game library, though, this is quite an accomplishment for the little white console that could.

By themselves, these Imabikisou: Kaimei Hen screens barely register on the "scary scale" -- a highly advanced, experimental fear-measuring instrument that we purchased through eBay. When sorted into a collection, however, such as our massive gallery below, the images begin to grow a feeling of unease in your stomach as you peruse each shot.

Maybe it's the fact that none of the characters' faces are ever completely shown? Or perhaps it's the ambiguous, likely supernatural conflict that presumably connects all the images? We just hope that Sega decides to eventually bring this Chunsoft-developed visual novel, a port of a PlayStation 3 title (with two new chapters), to the States! Lock your doors, pull your curtains shut, and peek past the break for a creepy Imabikisou trailer.

Fact.

Just kidding, really, so put the Nintendo Wii Fanboy voodoo dolls away, please. Sony's CEO Sir Howard Stringer, however, seems to believe it. Said the chairman, "The PlayStation 3 will come into its own because its [high-end games] are infinitely more fun, demanding and exciting [than the Wii's]."

Before you rant away at Mr. Stringer, keep in mind it's his job to say things like this. Of course, that doesn't mean we have to agree with it. While both systems have their merits, to make such a general statement like that is a bit presumptuous, although expected.

[Via Games Industry]

The Wii outsold the PlayStation 3 by 2-to-1 in Japan during October. No biggie, right? Happens, like, every month. That's just how the Wii rolls. But here's the thing: the console's lead in its homeland appears to be steadily dissolving.

Back in June, you may recall how Nintendo's box outsold its bigger and blacker rival by 6-to-1. Such a resolute thrashing didn't bode well for the competition, but a cheaper PlayStation 3 has since nibbled away at the gap, and now Japanese information well Enterbrain has revealed that October saw 110,415 Wii sales, compared to 47,183 for the PS3. Those figures, fact fans, mean October was the fourth consecutive month in which the Wii's lead was snipped.

Sure, it's not time to hit the panic button and head to the bunkers just yet, and we appreciate that such statistics can be manipulated to suit alternative perspectives, but there definitely seems to be a steady shift occuring in the attitudes of Japanese consumers. Needless to say, we await November's figures (not to mention the impact of Wii Fit in December) with bated breath.