Nintendo's Wii was the top video-game console in the U.S. in January, outselling Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and each of Sony Corp.'s current PlayStation consoles, according to a newly released market research. According to preliminary NPD Group data cited by Microsoft, sales of the Nintendo console reached 436,000 units in January, followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360 at 294,000 units, and loser Sony's PS3 at 244,000 units.

Sony's PS2 still remains Sony's winner, having sold roughly 300,000 units in the U.S. The Wii's success is also because of its low price, having been able to attract even an audience beyond hard-core gamers, reckoned Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing with Redmond-based Nintendo of America: "I do think that we're selling to additional and different customers. We've had an incredibly healthy start and we think there's going to be a pretty long tail on this product."

Regarding the Xbox 360, spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell said that Microsoft's console has had a "fantastic January," and leaving aside that it totally topped the PS3 in sales, the Xbox 360 also sold a pretty good number of games, among which titles like Lost Planet: Extreme Condition even made the top-selling game for the month, according to NPD.

Still, Michael Pachter, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst, said that January's results concerning the console wars don't reflect a long-term situation. He even went and said that he expects the PS3 to win the long-term race for market share, as the prices for all three consoles decline. He could be right... Anyway, time will give us the right answer, and if the PS3's fate is what Patcher says, then Sony should really consider a price cut for their system.