Nintendo's Wii whizzes past Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360

In case you needed further evidence that the Nintendo Wii is the big success of the next generation video game consoles, The Financial Times is reporting that cumulative sales of the Wii have now surpassed those of the Xbox 360 -- in spite of the fact that Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 has been on the market a year longer. The last time Nintendo has been top dog was more than 15 years ago, when Super Nintendo was a smash hit. Back then, Tecmo Super Bowl was cool.

According to sales data from each console's launch through to the end of July (or the end of August in Japan), people have bought 9 million Wiis, 8.9 million Xboxes and 3.7m PS3s.

As further evidence of its dominance, Nintendo now has a larger market cap than Sony (NYSE: SNE), even though video games are a relatively small part of Sony's business.

There are a few explanations for Nintendo's dominance. First, the price: Wii goes for $249 while Xbox 360 will set you back $300-$400. PS3 tips the scales at $600.

But the larger factor can be summed up in a sentence: Nintendo's Wii is just more fun, less arcane, and appealing to casual gamers. PS3 and Xbox 360 are big with hardcore nerds, but that's a relatively small segment of the population. By appealing to people who might not have previously considered themselves gamers, Nintendo has scored a hit.

It's possible that Sony and Microsoft will be able to pick up some ground with price-cuts in time for the holiday season, but the hardcore gamers probably already have their systems. Casual gamers will be more likely to go for Wii this season, and I would expect that Nintendo will actually widen the sales gap in the next few months.