SALES of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console have surpassed one million units in Japan in about eight months after its launch, more than four times as long as it took Nintendo's hot-selling Wii to reach the same mark.

According to game magazine publisher Enterbrain, Sony has sold 1.01 million units of the PS3 as of July 15, while Wii sales totaled 2.9 million units as of July 8. Sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 have come to 420,705 units.

Sony's PlayStation 3 hit shelves in Japan on November 11, while the Wii made its debut on December 2. The Xbox 360 has been on sale in Japan since December 2005.

Sony, which dominated the $US30 billion global game industry over the past decade, has seen a slow start for the PS3 due to its high price and scarcity of strong game titles.

The Xbox 360, although popular in the United States, has been struggling to gain traction in Japan, home to Sony and Nintendo.