But Nintendo is not the overall winner for next-generation consoles at this point; the report stated that Microsoft has sold 5.1 million of its consoles, while both Nintendo and Sony have not yet reached the two-million mark for either of their gaming machines.

It is likely that the trio will continue to duke it out for market dominance in the coming years, adding more games and services to capture larger pieces of the $13 billion U.S. video game market.

Building Buzz

Part of Nintendo's February success stems from a strong start in the early days of the recent console race, said Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson.

The company sold a significant number of consoles thanks to the strength of its games, and development houses have been quick to work on new titles for Nintendo since it is less expensive to create games for that platform than for Sony's PlayStation 3 or Microsoft's Xbox 360, Jackson noted.

"One of Nintendo's advantages is that it's slightly less expensive for development houses because the hardware is less powerful and a bit older," he said. "Nintendo is not in the arms race for the most advanced, most innovative hardware that is going on between the Xbox and the PS3."

Another reason that Nintendo has garnered attention, and subsequent consumer dollars, is the company's unique controller, called the Wiimote, which gets players off the couch and moving to emulate game characters in titles like bowling, tennis, and boxing.

"There's a very popular blog that chronicles a Wii exercise program," said Jackson. "It's a bit of a joke, but the fellow has lost some weight, and it's building buzz around the product."

Online Worlds

As consumers continue to decide between big game makers, the large game companies will keep adding services that appeal to broader audiences, noted Jackson.

Sony recently released details of its online meeting place, called PlayStation Home, where users can communicate, play online games, swap content, and outfit their personal digital living spaces.

Microsoft, meanwhile, just announced that it is extending its Live online service to PC users, extending its reach beyond the Xbox 360 and uniting console players with PC gamers for titles like the very popular "Halo 2."

Gamers can expect to see more efforts along these lines, Jackson said, particularly in tying console gaming to multiplayer, online worlds.