Showdown in Japan: Wii still on top, PlayStation 3 catching up

Thanks to Metal Gear Solid 4, the PlayStation 3 got a huge 700% sales boost in Japan last month. Despite that though, it seems the Wii is still the clear winner for June. However, the PS3 has gained considerable ground. Details in the full article.

Despite a huge 700% boost in sales last month thanks to the success of platform exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the PlayStation 3 still wasn’t able to catch up to Wii sales in Japan.

For the month of June, the Wii is still far and away the clear winner, selling 235,990 units while the PlayStation 3 sold 139,494 units.

It is of note, as Enterbrain points out, that the Wii only outsold the PlayStation 3 by 1.7-to-1, whereas in May, it had a lead of 6-to-1. Is the PlayStation 3 finally catching up? Or were sales only given a temporary boost courtesy of Solid Snake?

This is only in Japan, mind you. In the rest of the world, the PlayStation 3 still has a lot of ground to cover. By the end of march, there have been 12.85 million PS3 consoles sold worldwide – half the amount of Wiis sold at the time.