Tech Shout!

For the very first time in the next-gen console war, the month of January 2008 saw Sony’s PS3 beat Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in the United States ’ unit sales, according to NPD Group market research firm. The reason behind the same is that Microsoft apparently couldn’t keep pace and faced supply shortages.

While the PS3 recorded a sales mark of 269,000 units, there were close to 40,000 lesser sales of the 360, closing numbers at 274,000 for Microsoft’s baby. And well it takes no genius to guess that the numero uno spot was retained by the Nintendo Wii which marked a sale of 274,000 units.

According to Microsoft, this was quite a rare situation and this scenario could be due to the higher-than-expected demand for Xbox 360 during the holidays caused consequent shortages.

On the other hand, the company on the better side – Sony noted the development in areas such as movie studios’ grip of the Blu-ray next-generation DVD format, which the PS3 employs. A very optimistic Jack Tretton, Sony Computer Entertainment America chief executive, said that it’s “shaping up to be a breakthrough year for us.”

Call of Duty for the Xbox 360, which moved as much as 331,000 copies, adorned the number one spot as the top-selling console game for the first month of the year 2008. Wii Play and the Wii Version of Guitar Hero II, which sold 298,000 copies and 240,000 copies respectively, were the other names that found a decent position in the race of the top-selling console game for January.

In the handheld race, Nintendo’s DS topped the PSP with 251,000 units compared to 230,000 news.