By ITP
Sony overtakes rival Nintendo in console sales
Sony has overtaken Nintendo for the first time in eight years, based on the total number of game consoles sold. Sony sold 18.7 million systems in the last financial year, which ended in March 2014, compared to Nintendo’s tally of 16.3 million video games machines.


Sony Corporation president and CEO Kazuo Hirai speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on May 22, 2014. Sony said on May 22 it will complete the structural reform of its electronics business within fiscal 2014. (AFP/Getty Images)

An employee of an electronics chain promotes the release of Sony’s PlayStation 4 video game console in Tokyo on February 22, 2014. Diehard gamers in Japan who began queuing earlier this week finally got their hands on a new PlayStation 4 as Sony unleashed its console on home turf in a midnight launch. (AFP/Getty Images)

Sony’s PlayStation 4 game consoles are displayed at the ‘Try! PlayStation 4! -2.22–‘ event at Ginza Sony building in Tokyo on February 1, 2014. As the game console’s Japan debut on February 22 is approaching, Sony started its touch and try events in major cities, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. (AFP/Getty Images)

A visitor looks at the posters of Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console during the ‘Try! PlayStation 4! -2.22–‘ event at Ginza Sony building in Tokyo on February 1, 2014. As the game console’s Japan debut on February 22 is approaching, Sony started its touch and try events in major cities, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. (AFP/Getty Images)

Satoru Iwata, president of Japanese videogame giant Nintendo announces the company’s financial result ended March in Osaka, western Japan. Nintendo booked a $229m annual loss, reversing a year-earlier profit as dismal sales of its Wii U console during the crucial Christmas holiday period dented results. (AFP/Getty Images)

A man plays Nintendo’s portable video game console at an electronic shop in Tokyo on January 17, 2014. Japanese gaming giant Nintendo warned it would swing back into the red this fiscal year as it slashed its annual sales target for the Wii U game console, blaming a poor performance over the festive holiday. (AFP/Getty Images)

Japanese video game giant Nintendo president Satoru Iwata bows his head at a conference to announce the company’s business strategy in Tokyo on January 30, 2014. Iwata will slash his salary in half after announcing a 30 percent dive in nine-month profit on weak demand for its new Wii U video game console as gamers are enticed by cheap, downloadable games for mobiles. (AFP/Getty Images)