It was first time in sixteen months Sony's PlayStation 3 jumped ahead of Nintendo's Wii, in sales in Japan - says Enterbrain, the Japanese magazine known for tracking the sales of video games and video game consoles.

According to Enterbrain, Sony's PlayStation 3 edged out Nintendo's Wii in March sales in Japan.

Enterbrain has reported that Sony sold 146,948 units of PlayStation 3, while Nintendo sold 99,335 units of Wii, and Microsoft sold 43,172 units of Xbox 360s during the month of March in Japan.

In its report, Enterbrain wrote that the sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 in Japan were mainly booted by new popular action adventure games - Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 (Yakuza 3) and Resident Evil 5 from Sega Sammy Holdings Inc and Capcom Co Ltd.

Enterbrain's report has come a month after the NPD Group released its ranking of video game consoles on the basis of their global sales in the month of February. The NPD's February raking of video game consoles showed Nintendo's Wii (753,000) at number #1, Nintendo DS (588,000) at number #2, Xbox 360 (391,000) at number #3, PlayStation 3 (276,000) at number #4, PSP (199,000) at number #5, and PlayStation 2 (131,000) at number #6.

According to Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Etsuko Tamura, despite stronger sales in March in Ja[an, the PS3 is not a threat to Nintendo's Wii, which dominates in the global sales; globally the PS3 lags behind Wii.

The only reason for why PS3 lags behind Wii is that its high price. The PS3, launched at $500, is presently priced at $399, still costlier that Nintendo's Wii, about $100 more than Microsoft's Xbox 360.