Nintendo hails Wii sales success

Some US gaming fans queued for hours to buy a Wii console

Nintendo says it has sold more than 600,000 of its new Wii game consoles in the first eight days since they became available in North America.

As a fresh "console war" hots up, the figure tops the 200,000 or so PlayStation 3 units that rival Sony is thought to have sold in the US.

The Wii went on sale in the US and Canada on 19 November, two days after the PlayStation 3 debuted in the US.

They are competing against a third console rival, Microsoft's Xbox 360.

While the Wii and PlayStation 3 are only now hitting the shops, the Xbox 360 first went on sale in the US a year ago.

'Gotta-have' product

Nintendo says it will ship four million Wii units across the US and Canada by the end of the year, while Sony has a target of one million.

"Even with sales already in excess of 600,000 units, demand continues to exceed supply, as it's clear this is one of the 'gotta-have' products for the holiday season," said Nintendo's US president Reggie Fils-Aime.

"We've shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time - and we still sold out."

At $250 (£128) in the US, the Wii is about half the price of the PlayStation 3.

UK customers will be able to get hold of the Wii console on 8 December, retailing at £179.

The European launch of the PlayStation 3 will not take place until March next year, with prices yet to be released.