We've been hearing a lot lately of the surge in sales that the Xbox 360 is experiencing, mostly thanks to the price reduction that Microsoft operated early in September. The company claims that the console has doubled the sales of the PlayStation 3 from Sony in the United Kingdom, while data coming from Japan shows that the two have close numbers in sales, on a market where the PS3 has been dominating the Xbox 360.

Sony has launched a quick counterattack, saying that the PlayStation 3 video game console and the PlayStation Portable handheld are now selling faster than the company estimated at the beginning of the year.

Chief Executive of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Jack Tretton, said that sales were up 30%, adding that, “We are in good shape for that number worldwide. We are tracking at 100 percent up over last year ... about 30 percent ahead of where we should be. So sales could slow down and we will still hit our number.”

Sony is preparing to launch a new version of the PSP, labeled 3000, which sports a better screen and a microphone, in an effort to tackle the runaway success of the Nintendo DS. The company says that it is on track to reaching its target of 15 million PSPs sold in Japan this year.

Trenton also stated that the economic downturn might actually help Sony make money from the PlayStation 3. In his own words, “I think people are going to question every dollar that they spend, but they are going to look for value in return. The entertainment value ... with PlayStation 3 compares very favorably to other entertainment choices.”

Sony shares went down 20% over the past month, but the company has a big portfolio, so the video games division cannot be held responsible for this fall.