Wii could outsell PS2, says Iwata

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said he believes the Wii could outsell PlayStation 2 over the course of its lifetime to become the most popular console ever.

"Sony's PS2 sales of 100 million units is an extraordinary number that our home game console business has not achieved," Iwata told Reuters.

"But if we can make our bid to expand the gaming population a continued success, we could exceed that."

More than 120 million PS2 units have been shipped since the console launched in 2000. Nintendo sold 5.8 million Wii consoles between December 2006 and March 2007, and is predicting that a further 14 million will be sold by March next year.

Iwata confirmed that Nintendo's hardware division is already making a profit. He also said the company's strategy of targeting new audiences has been a success.

"I wouldn't say there is no overlap between the group of customers Sony is targeting and the group of users that Nintendo is targeting," Iwata conceded. "But that overlap is quite small."