Nintendo's Wii game console outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 by a ratio of over 4 to 1 in Japan in July, game magazine publisher Enterbrain said on Friday.

Nintendo sold 396,752 units of the Wii in the five weeks ended July 29, compared with 91,987 units of the PS3.

The PS3 has been lagging the Wii in sales since their launches late last year due to PS3's high price and scarcity of strong software titles.

In June, the ratio was 6 to 1 in favor of the Wii.

Nintendo said last week its quarterly operating profit more than tripled on stellar demand for the Wii as well as for the DS handheld game gear, and raised its annual forecast above market expectations.

The Wii sells for 25,000 yen ($210) in Japan, twice as expensive as the basic version of the PS3.

Microsoft sold 17,970 units of its Xbox 360 in July in Japan, Enterbrain data showed. The machine went on sale about a year ahead of the Wii and PS3.