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   The contrast between the successful launch of Nintendo's Wii console, and Sony's lacking retail performance with the PlayStation 3, was most obvious at the end of January in Japan. At that time, Nintendo was selling four Wiis for every PS3 sold by Sony, placing the former leader of the "last generation" of consoles in an outright humiliating position. Later, the sales ratio was brought down to 3:1 for the Wii, and by now, it seems, the PlayStation 3 may finally be catching up with the Wii in the land of the rising sun (though Sony still has a ways to go...).

   According to a report on Bloomberg this week, the total number of PS3 and Wii consoles sold in Japan since their release in November 11 and December 2 of last eyar, respectively, leads to an overall ratio closer to 2:1 for the Wii (2.4 to 1, actually). As of March 25, Nintendo had sold 1.95 million Wii units, while Sony barely passed the 0.8 million mark, with 812,000 PS3 units sold in Japan.

   The figures were provided by the Tokyo-based research firm Enterbrain, who previously predicted a price cut for the PlayStation 3 a couple of months ago, while Sony's next-gen console was at its lowest. The price cut, however, never came; nor did Sony confirm any plans to reduce the PS3's inflated price - only its production costs, by using cheaper components, or removing others altogether from the recently released PAL version.

   As usual, the Xbox 360 is still lagging way behind most last-gen and next-gen consoles currently on sale in Japan, and unlike Sony, there's little hope left for Microsoft to ever impose itself as a major player in the territory.