London (England) - A professional research firm has released information that shows the Wii has outsold the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on a global scale.

The Financial Times reports that German research company GfK has compiled worldwide sales data showing the Wii as eclipsing the PS3 and Xbox 360.  It is a significant mark for the Nintendo console, as it has only been out for less than 10 months.  Microsoft's Xbox 360, on the other hand, has been around for nearly 23 months.

The group says that the Wii has sold 9 million units, just barely hopping over the Xbox 360's 8.9 million.  The PS3 is hanging in the picture with 3.7 million units sold.

All eyes are on the holiday lineup, which is solid for both the Wii and Xbox 360.  However, the intended audiences for their respective release lists differ greatly.  The Wii will bring powerhouses like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros Brawl, while the Xbox 360 will rake in sales with Halo 3 and Mass Effect, to name a couple.

According the Financial Times, GfK's data is compiled from its own figures in Europe, data from its subsidiary in Japan, and numbers from the USA's NPD Group.

Last month, a more unofficial report came from a site called VG Chartz claiming that Wii sell-through figures had passed the Xbox 360.

NPD has placed the Wii as the top-selling console in America every month this year.  However, because the Xbox 360's core audience in the United States, the Wii still trails in terms of total units sold in the US alone.  Contrarily, in Japan the Wii is outselling the Xbox 360 each month by margins of as much as four-to-one.

Alright fanboys

Sep 13, 2007 20:09     

Here's your chance to put a spin on it. All I have to say is, good for Nintendo for being innovative and giving gamers a new way to enjoy games. And Xbox, they really brought online play home. Sony, well, Sony is Sony.
Voodoo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

34 months?

Sep 13, 2007 20:42     

Didn't the 360 come out in November 05?
Kefner report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Only four to one?

Sep 13, 2007 20:45     

If you see the Joystiq and Kotaku weekly Japan updates, it's more like 50 to 1.
Ignatius report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

So proud

Sep 13, 2007 21:02     

I just want to say I'm so proud of you guys for not saying "next gen" .. it's current gen, well done :)
wmcgritt report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

i agree

Sep 13, 2007 22:08     

I was thinking the same thing about calling it current gen instead of next gen. Next gen is a buzzword that has been thrown around long enough. I think the 360 will start to pick up steam this holiday season with Halo 3 and other games that will get people who had been holding off to finally buy it. I already bought a Wii and don't feel like spending the money on a 360 just yet, especially since I'd also want a HD TV to go along with it.

Maxor127 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Slow Selling 360

Sep 14, 2007 06:58     

I think the reason people are holding off on buying a 360 is because they don't want to get on the Merry-Go-Round of buying one, having it break, then sending it in for another one; not to mention having their game disks scratched up by the DVD drive in it.
Brown report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Numbers are wrong

Sep 14, 2007 07:18     

If you look at M$s financial statements they have sold 10.5 million (as of July). Plus several other websites have Wii at 10 mill, M$ at 11 mill and, PS3 at about 3.5 mill. All of which is gathered from monthly sales numbers. Obviously this report wanted to show the ps3 wasn't that far behind because it's the only number they didn't short. BTW i'm neutral on the consoles. I own all three and each his it's pros and cons.

Action Jackson report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

haven't we already heard this at higher numbers?

Sep 14, 2007 09:12     

Wasn't it a few months ago how we were reading this same thing and the numbers were more like 10-11 million sold? I know I've seen at least 10 million sold claims from both the Wii and the Xbox 360 before.
Erl report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Still not sure about this "competition"

Sep 14, 2007 09:21     

As the article mentions, the intended markets are quite different. I'm not sure of the extent to which these consoles (especially Wii) even compete with one another. Add on the fact that market is almost certainly large enough now to support 3 players, and I'm forced to wonder if the ongoing news about the "next/current-gen console war" carries any real meaning at all. I don't think any console can kill any other at this point; for one to fail it'd have to kill itself.

Ben report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

upgrade

Sep 14, 2007 10:03     

Maybe I'll upgrade my Sega Master System to a Wii and buy a TV to go with it.
Sean report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

No It came out November 22, 2005!

Sep 14, 2007 10:14     

No Kefner it came out in November 22, 2005, those 34 months.
Brian report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

And this comes as a surprise why?...

Sep 14, 2007 10:56     

And this comes as a surprise why?
CS report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

34 months?

Sep 14, 2007 11:40     

The 360 came out Nov '05, that's 23 months, not 34. This basic inaccuracy puts a serious question mark on the validity of everything this 'study' says. I have a Wii, PS3 and PC. After some initial fun, I never use the Wii any more. People say the PS3 has no stand-out games. Clearly they don't own a Wii. Currently, I mostly play on my PC and then PS3. I think the Wii competes more with the PS2 than the 360 and PS3. The Wii certainly isn't 'next-gen' In 1-2 years from now as people realise the Wii's limitations and the real next-gen consoles become cheaper, Wii sales will be rock bottom and PS3/360 will be steaming along nicely. Still think the PS3 has the most substance of all the consoles out there and will pick up steadily in the next year and go rushing into the lead within 2 years, but that comment will make many people scream out 'fanboy!'

Hernando report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Not laughing anymore are they?

Sep 14, 2007 11:49     

I remember when Nintendo announced its console and specified features and its name, just about every expert and journalist said it would flop. It had a stupid name and wasn't "enough" next-gen. It would even be funny to make a site with all those statements. It's currently out-selling the "well established" and "well thought out" competition. I guess Nintendo knew its marketing 101 affter all... I'll sum up saying that I only own a PC and still don't have a good enough reason to buy any of those consoles. Cheers,

Eric report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

xbox360 is junk

Sep 14, 2007 12:18     

Xbox360 has nice graphics and nice games. Overheats after a year - 3 red lights. MS wont warrant because they believe I tampered with it. Bought a wii. Much more reliable. No heat felt. MS really pushed it out the door before doing adequate heat research just to beat Sony to the punch. Both units have their pros and cons, but in the case of reliablity vs cutting-edge, I choose reliablity (Wii).
javaman report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Sony's response....

Sep 14, 2007 12:45     

The CEO of Sony stated some time ago: "....Nintendo has a better business model than we have....." The experts who predicted a flop for the wii...are they really experts? Experts in what exactly?
M-Theory report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

ps wii 60 - no winner, all different

Sep 14, 2007 12:51     

i also have all three, the Wii is the most fun. with the 360 i got sick of playing pot heads and highschool students. the ps3 i don't even plan to buy a game, but it is one hell of a media player/ blu ray device. DVDs have never looked so good, and using an rf blu ray remote is nice.
jDavid.net report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

DIfferent market...

Sep 15, 2007 00:24     

Hernando's comment is interesting - note that he has Wii, PS3 and a PC. Nintendo did not build the Wii to go after the established gamer market (like Hernando), they went over an overlooked market share - the NON gamer. While Sony and MS were fighting to get the high-end game market with HD graphics and design (and price) Nintendo was going after the non-gamer that wouldn't pay as much for a console, didn't care as much about the resolution, didn't know what a controller is 'suppose' to look like, and just wanted to have fun. The fact that the Wii didn't show up in the early surveys was that they were asking gamers what they thought of the Wii; they never talked to non-gamers, and there was no predictive metric since it was an untapped market. This is similar to the genius of the early Honda cars, instead of competing to build the biggest, chromed up, most powerful cars; they decided to go after an untapped market - a smaller, simple car.

boingo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

PS3 price cut will not help.

Sep 16, 2007 09:25     

The PS3 at 399 will not help Sony at all because it will pull in the soft fans who will make a lot more noise about the sorry state of affairs. Look what just happened to Apple with the iphone as a whole new crop of users reacted very differently that of the core fans. Apples media machine is loosing control because of all the common people jumping onboard. Sonys not ready for the fickle soft fans that dont feel its their duty to spew how great it is. Sony better be ready for prime time if it lowers its price to a volume level because the hardcore fans will be drowned out by the cries of the common consumer. Just ask Apple but remember the media loves Apple...not so much for Sony these days.

Jay report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Interesting

Sep 16, 2007 23:06     

I hope that Nintendo uses this lead and the fact that it's making a good profit on the hardware to make a build a real next generation console. Cause HDTV is only becoming more common, and let's face it, the Wii is at least a half generation behind. If they released a new Wii sometime next year, they could seal the coffin on both Sony and Microsoft and we could finally have the world make sense again. Let's not forget that all of these companies actually make Nintendos (b/c a video game console is really a Nintendo just like a Kleenex is a Kleenex). I really like that Sony and Microsoft don't deliberately short change their machines the way Nintendo does. Nintendo needs to stop this short-changing bussiness. For no good reason, the Game Cube didn't play DVDs... and for no good reason, the Wii isn't an HD device. I really don't get it. In terms of follow through, the Wii is going to be a 5 game system, while the other platforms really cater to 3rd party developers.

gochichi report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re:interesting

Sep 18, 2007 08:14     

Just food for thought... the gamecube didn't play DVDs... the Wii DOESN'T play DVDs either. Maybe they will patch it to play DVDs later. Seriously I think this is a flaw from Nintendo's Side. I do not want a HD player... but i would really like a console that I can use for my ocasional DVD watching, specially if it plays DivX and things like that.... I do watch nor I own a TV. I'm thinking of buying a Wii, and I would really love if it could play DVD without having to hack it, just slip the DVD in and I can watch the episodes :/ I'm also debating between a projector, a bigger monitor or a big TV. Right now the proyector seems the best choice to watch all my downloaded TV episodes, but with a Wii I would go for a TV. Something interesting, there used to be a Panasonic DVD player/Gamecube hybrid, it was very kick ass and it costed around 500$.

crazyhippo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The Holiday Season will decide alot!

Oct 02, 2007 23:35     

Wii has momentum, but if it fails to deliver on a superb line-up, it's going to get eclipsed. 360 has a killer line-up, and while Japanese consumers aren't into these games, ALOT of the world is, and will get into the Halo effect. Anyway, Mass Effect vs. Zelda...lol...sorry!
Hiruu report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Halo Effect

Oct 19, 2007 11:31     

Halo is over-rated anymore. It is a good and typical FPS, but if you played one halo you've played the all. the primary difference is what you use and where you go.
michael report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0