Xbox 360 Predicted to Outpace Wii in Sales For First Time in Years

The Xbox 360 is predicted to outsell the Nintendo Wii for the first time since the beginning of this generation.  According to industry analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company, believes that between the periods of March 2011 to March 2012 the Xbox 360 will lead Nintendo’s Wii if the projected estimates turn out to be correct.  Many of have wrote off the Wii going forward, predicting that it’s popularity is dwindling.

Creutz had this to say when speaking with Gamasutra about this prediction.

“We believe that [March] will represent the first time since the early days of this console cycle that Xbox 360 hardware will outsell the Wii on a [trailing twelve-month (TTM)] basis,”

“This illustrates the significant shift that has gone on over the last year in the console space,” he said. “The Wii was outselling the 360 and PS3 combined on a TTM basis as recently as January 2010, and was outselling the 360 alone by 2:1 on a TTM basis in December 2009 and 1.5:1 in October 2010.”

The analyst believes that the changes are not just decline in sales for the Wii, but a market share shift brought about by the release of the Kinect motion sensor, whose sole objective was to capture a portion of Nintendo’s stranglehold on the casual market.