Following Good Xbox News From Microsoft, Nintendo Has Strong Sales

The recession is not breaking the video game addiction shared by so many Americans. Even in a downturn they can find cash for games and consoles.

Microsoft (MSFT) said Xbox sales broke records on Black Friday weekend, up 25% from the same period last year.

Nintendo won’t be outdone by Redmond. It says its sales have been doubling. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told Reuters in an interview that Wii sales more than doubled to about 800,000 units during the week of Thanksgiving, from about 350,000 units a year earlier.

The Wii is still well ahead of Xbox and Sony (SNE) PS3. As one analyst told the news service, "The competition stage is over," Nomura Securities analyst Yuta Sakurai said. "The spread on shipment volumes is so large that it’s not even worth talking about it. They aren’t rivals."

The race now is for second place.

Douglas A. McIntyre