PlayStation3 outsells Wii in Japan

Sony’s PlayStation 3 has outsold Nintendo’s Wii console in Japan for the first time in 16 months.

Last month, Sony shifted 146,948 units of the PS3 compared to 99,335 Wiis, reported publishing firm Enterbrain.

While some suggest it could signal the end of Nintendo’s dominance, others think it is unlikely that the PS3 will threaten the Wii’s popularity globally.

Meanwhile, Nintendo’s revamped DSi console sold 92,000 units in the UK during its first weekend of sales.

It makes it the fourth biggest ever console launch.

Wii success

Experts see the dominance of the PS3 during March as a temporary blip rather than a sign of Nintendo’s decline.

Microsoft however only shifted 43,172 units of its Xbox 360 during the same period.

Games such as Resident Evil 5 and the latest version of action adventure Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 are credited with driving demand for the PS3 in Japan.

But Wii sales remain extremely buoyant.

During March global sales of Nintendo’s Wii console passed 50 million, making the Wii the fastest-selling games console in history, surpassing the PlayStation 2.

“PS3 hardware sales picked up due to brisk-selling software. But I don’t see any drastic change in the industry landscape,” Okasan Securities analyst Masashi Morita told the AFP news agency.

Sony launches new PS3 Reference Tool and SDK

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced a new version of its debugging Reference Tool for the PlayStation 3 and a new SDK for developers.

The DECR-1400A looks like a normal PlayStation 3 but allows access deep inside the console’s hardware and firmware, and can play early code rather just finished discs.

Sony says that the DECR-1400A allows advanced game programming and more efficient computer graphics rendering than the previous Reference Tool – and at a lower cost of ‘just’ Euros 1700 (£1600).

Speeding up game development

Sony hopes that the lower price will appeal to a broader range of developers and publishers, helping to provide a more streamlined game development environment and accelerating game development for PS3.

SCE is also upgrading its PhyreEngine graphics rendering engine first introduced last year. The new version includes a new foliage rendering system that provides tools and technology to render ultra-realistic trees and plants to be easily integrated into games

Apparently, this will “help game developers to express their creativity more freely on the PS3 system.” Or at the very least design games with kick-ass beeches and photo-realistic oaks.