Super Mario Galaxy sells 500k Units in North America week one

Plumbers make a decent living, even if they can't seem to afford proper-fitting pants. And the most most famous plumber of all, Mario, is once again showing us he knows how to print money with the best of 'em.

According to Nintendo, Super Mario Galaxy sold 500,000 units in its first week on US store shelves, making it the best selling Mario game of all time in its first week. It was more good news for the mustached one following his Japanese debut where the game sold 250k units in the same time frame.

Xbox 360 outsold PS3 in Japan Last Week

The end is nigh! Repent! Duck and cover! Pucker up and kiss your...ok, you get it. If the numbers from gamesindustry.biz are correct, the apocalypse is surely at hand. According to their report, the Xbox 360 outsold the PS3 in Japan last week, sparked by Namco Bandai's Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, which debuted at #2 behind Super Mario Galaxy, which sold nearly as many copies as the rest of the top ten combined.

The PS3 sold 17,434 units compared to Xbox 360's 17,673. Yes, it is a tiny difference of only 200 units, but considering Microsoft's well documented difficulties breaking into the Japanese market, it is huge news for them. The dramatic increase in sales for the 360 represents a nearly five-fold upswing from the previous week when only 3,718 units were sold. What will happen with Call of Duty 4 releasing this week? Oh yeah, they will probably ignore it.

Analyst Pachter predicts Microsoft beats Wii in September

According to Michael Pachter, the Xbox 360 will have beaten the Wii 450,000 to 425,000 when sales numbers for September have been added up. It's sure to be a nice boost for Microsoft, but considering last month also saw the release of Halo 3, they likely won't be comfortable to bask in the glory of this win for long.



While I personally think it is unfair to even compare sales of the Wii to the Xbox 360 or PS3 due to the differences in price, features and perceived audience, any time the 360 tops the Wii it is definitely surprising. With Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4 and Kane and Lynch due out in November, there is a good chance MS can carry this momentum over to November as well.

UK PS3 sales plunge 82% this week.

After reports of record first day sales in Europe, PS3 reality has set in in Europe and it seems consumers over there feel the same way they do in North America; it's too expensive, nobody cares about Blu-Ray and there aren't enough original games to make it compelling.

From Joystiq:

"After obliterating records upon its launch in the UK last week, PlayStation 3 sales have come down to Earth with all the grace of a skydiving walrus using an anvil for a parachute. Citing the latest Chart Track data, a GamesIndustry.biz report discloses that sales for Sony's system have dropped by 82% in the last week. Having sold an estimated 165,000 units before, the percentage represents a drop of 135,300 units, resulting in total sales of 29,700 systems for the week."

Read the full story from GamesIndustry.biz.