Japan - This is typically the one time per year that console manufacturers can look forward to significantly increased hardware sales, but 2008's holiday season in Japan has been a disappointment (so far).

Combined, all three have seen a 33.76% drop in sales in similar time periods* from 2008 compared to 2007 holiday seasons.

Sony has seen the biggest drop, selling 200k PS3s in the same time it sold 340k last year, a 40.68% drop. Nintendo has also seen a significant drop in sales, selling 360k Wii systems compared to 576k in 2007, 37.76% less than 2007 totals.

The lone bright spot isn't much of a consolation prize, though. Microsoft has sold 91k units in 2008 compared to 68k in 2007, both numbers considerably lower than its competitors. Still, small victories that show growth in a difficult territory have to be an encouraging sign to Microsoft.

(click to enlarge)