Sony said Monday it sold 1.2 million PlayStation 3 game machines in North America over the holidays, boosting the strength of its console's Blu-ray next-generation video format.
Competition is intense among the latest video game machines, pitting Sony Corp. against Nintendo Co. and Microsoft Corp. Competition is also fierce between two of the latest video formats — Blu-ray and HD DVD.
The PlayStation 3 also works as a Blu-ray player.
Sony Computer Entertainment, the electronics and entertainment company's game unit, also said 1.4 million hand-held PlayStation Portables were sold in North America during the Nov. 23-Dec. 31 holiday shopping period.
Including sales of 1.3 million PlayStation 2 consoles, the PS3's predecessor, retail sales of the three PlayStation machines combined reached more than 3.9 million in North America, Sony said.
Sony has been struggling against the popular Wii machine from Nintendo, which went on sale about the same time as the PS3. The Wii has succeeded in attracting newcomers to gaming with easy-to-play games that use a wandlike remote control.