PS3 outsells Xbox 360 in January, says NPD

According to stat tracking go-to firm NPD, the PS3 outsold the Xbox 360 in January.

"I finally got second place!"

There was much rejoicing in the Sony camp today as the beleaguered PlayStation 3 -- perhaps boosted by Blu-Ray wins at Netflix and Best Buy -- finally outsold its rival the Xbox 360 for the month of January.

According to industry stat tracker NPD, the PS3 took second place with 269,000 units sold. That total put the console ahead of the PS2 (264,000 units sold) and the Xbox 360 (230,000). The PS3 also outsold the Nintendo DS (251,000) and the PSP, which sold 230,000 units.

The Wii once again led all sales with 274,000 units sold.

"Based on this month's results, software sales are off to a fantastic start," said NPD's Anita Frazier. "Accessories are also very hot, so the industry looks to be pretty healthy out the gate."

However, in a trend that now mirrors its portable cousin, the PS3 saw healthy hardware sales numbers but only managed to get one game into the top ten. That game, Call of Duty 4, came in at number eight. The Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 4 remained strong as well and captured the top spot for the third consecutive month.

On Thursday, Microsoft attempted some preliminary damage control when Jeff Bell, head of global marketing for Microsoft's games business, said his company was experiencing product shortages because they miscalculated consumer demand for the console. "We think this will have an impact on our sales. It may cause the overall industry number to be down a little bit," he said.

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