Nintendo has scored an early victory over Sony after initial sales of its new Wii video games console eclipsed those of the rival Japanese group’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) machine.

Nintendo said yesterday that it had sold more than 600,000 Wii units in the first eight days that it was on sale in North America, equivalent to about one sold every second.

The Wii, which sells for $250 (£128), went on sale in the United States on November 19, two days after PS3’s debut.

Sony originally expected only 400,000 PS3s to be ready at launch, while analysts since have suggested that, amid continuing production problems, fewer than 200,000 may have been delivered.

Its early lead could vindicate Nintendo’s plan to market the relatively unsophisticated Wii, with its distinctive “wand” controller, to mainstream consumers. The powerful PS3, which comes complete with a price- inflating Blu-ray DVD system, is being aimed at avid gamers.

The figures also cast doubt on claims made by Microsoft, the third player in the consoles battle, that the “hottest-selling gaming console this past weekend was (our) Xbox 360”.

Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo’s US president, said: “We’ve shipped retailers several times’ the amount of hardware the other company (Sony) was able to deliver for its launch around the same time — and we still sold out.”

Strong demand is also expected in the UK, where the Wii goes on sale on Decem- ber 8. It will retail for £179.99.

Sony has delayed the PS3’s British launch until the spring. When it hits UK shelves it will cost up to £425.

Along with the recall of millions of combustible laptop batteries in the autumn and this week’s recall of faulty digital cameras, the PS3’s European setback will put pressure on Sir Howard Stringer, the Welsh-born chairman and chief executive of Sony.

Early console glitches are common and the PlayStation 2, which suffered a fraught launch in 2000, later went on to become the fastest-selling console to date.

Sir Howard will be aware that the latest console sales mirror the increasingly divergent fortunes of Sony and Nintendo. In October Sony reported second-quarter operating losses of 20.8 billion yen (£91.9 million), down from an operating profit of Y74.6 billion a year earlier, in part though spiralling PS3 costs. At the same time, Nintendo said that first-half operating profits had more than trebled, to Y67.1 billion on strong sales of its DS handheld console.

Amazon.com, the online retailer, sold out of its initial stock of the Wii in less than one minute. An Amazon spokesman would not reveal how many units it had initially secured, but said that the group had not been surprised to sell out so quickly. “In every instance I can think of, new games consoles have been underproduced,” he said.

Nintendo says that it will ship four million Wii units across America and Canada by the end of the year. Sony had hoped to ship one million units.

Wider wand appeal

Sony’s US launch was six months behind schedule. Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 console in late 2005

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