Wii console sales boosted by casual, hardcore titles in Japan

Wii Fit Super Smash Bros.Thanks to the one-two punch of titles like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the quirky Wii Fit balance board, Nintendo has widened its lead in Japan over Sony’s PlayStation 3.

According to an article from Reuters today, Nintendo’s Wii game console outsold the PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February despite Sony’s console beginning to narrow the gap last autumn. In addition to strong hardware sales, Wii software titles also dominated the best seller list. Super Smash Bros. Brawl led the software sales with 1.33 million units, followed by Wii Fit which sold 309,311 units in the four weeks.

According to Reuters, Enterbrain and the Japanese gaming mag Famistsu, the Wii’s lead on the PS3 appears to be widening. In February it was 4:1; in January, the Wii outsold the PS3 by almost 3-to-1. Nintendo sold 331,627 units of the Wii in the four weeks to Feb. 24, compared with 89,131 units of the PS3, market research firm Enterbrain said.

Microsoft, content to sell to that lucrative “niche collector’s market” in Japan, sold 14,079 Xbox 360 units in the February reporting period.