Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console outsold Nintendo's Wii nearly fivefold in the three weeks to 20 September, helped by the launch of a new cheaper, slim version, a survey said on Friday.

Sony sold 257 254 PS3s in the three-week period, while Nintendo sold 52 229 Wii consoles, the research by video game publisher Ascii Media Works showed.

The new PS3 went on sale on September 1 in North America, Europe and Asia, except for Japan, where it debuted in stores two days later. It is priced at 29 980 yen ($330) in Japan and at $299 in North America.

Like its predecessors, it allows users to play games and movies on Blu-ray discs, but is slimmer and uses less power.

Soon after Sony slashed the price of its PS3, Microsoft cut the price of its Xbox 360 console, followed by Nintendo which on Thursday reduced the price of its Wii for the first time since its 2006 launch.

Nintendo has trounced Sony and Microsoft in recent years with the Wii, which aims to appeal to people who do not normally play video games.

But the console's worldwide appeal has faded recently: Wii sales more than halved to 2.23 million units in April-June from 5.17 million a year earlier.

Microsoft sold 17 716 Xbox 360 consoles in the three weeks to 20 September, Ascii said. The US company has struggled to capture a large share of the Japanese market.

AFP

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