As Wii’s launch week sales of 400,000 make it the early leader in the Japanese market, Xbox 360 has sold fewer than 180,000 units in its first year on sale. PS3 recently surpassed this barrier, and already enjoys a lead of nearly 10,000 units, reports Spong.

Still, Microsoft has at least some good news to celebrate. Last week saw the release Microsoft’s hotly tipped RPG Blue Dragon, and Japanese gamers reportedly queued up to get their hands on the game or the hardware bundle.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by Nintendo of America the company appears to have retracted its commitment to selling one million Wii consoles in North America by the end of the year.

According to GameDaily, the US arm of the hardware giant advised the media to ‘ignore’ a recent press statement that read “Despite shortages in some locations, well more than a million Wii systems will be available in the United States by the end of the year”.

Both gamers and retail alike had been made aware of the expected day one shortages of the console in the UK, but even so many retailers struggled to meet the day one allocations they had previously committed to.

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Many gamers have now been left with an anxious wait to see if they'll receive their consoles in time for Christmas.