Enterbrain - Japan's largest videogames magazine publisher, according to the Reuters newsagency - today claimed Nintendo's Wii outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 by almost - appropriately - three to one during January.

Enterbrain's research puts January's Wii shipments at 405,000, while Sony sold 148,000 PS3s.

Sony recently sniffingly described the Wii as an impulse purchase, the implication being the PS3 is a more considered buy, acquired for the longer term and less for instant gratification. The Wii is certainly priced to make such purchases more likely, but since half the battle is getting the console in punters' hands, maybe that's no bad thing.

Potential PS3 buyers, we'd imagine, are more likely to put off buying the console until they can be sure they'll be able to buy the kind of games they want to play. Crucially, Enterbrain pointed to a growing range of PS3 software through the year, which will help shift more PS3s. The rumoured price cut will help too - particularly if it's as high as the forecast 25 per cent.