Nintendo Wii outsells PS3 4-to-1 in Japan

Nintendo Co's Wii game console is displayed at an electronic shop in Tokyo's Akihabara district January 24, 2008. Nintendo's Wii game console outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February as Wii software titles dominated the best seller list, a game magazine publisher said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS) Wii game console outsold Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February as Wii software titles dominated the best seller list, a game magazine publisher said.

Nintendo sold 331,627 units of the Wii in the four weeks to February 24, compared with 89,131 units of the PS3, Enterbrain said on Thursday.

The Wii's lead on the PS3 appears to be widening: In January, Nintendo's game console outsold Sony's by almost 3-to-1.

Nintendo's own "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" for the Wii became the best-selling software for the month in Japan, with 1.33 million units sold, followed by the "Wii Fit" home fitness game, which sold 309,311 units in the four weeks, Enterbrain said.

The Wii has been leading the three-way game console battle with the PS3 and Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Xbox 360 as its strategy of offering easy-to-play and innovative games to expand the overall game population has proved a big success.

Microsoft, whose videogame business is struggling in Japan, home to both Sony and Nintendo, sold 14,079 Xbox 360 units.

Shares of Nintendo closed down 1.4 percent at 56,300 yen, while Sony fell 1.9 percent to 5,220 yen, underperforming the Nikkei average .N225, which was down 0.8 percent.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)