Sony has overtaken Nintendo for the first time in eight years,based on the total number of game consoles sold. According to data reported by Japan's Nikkei business news site, Sony sold 18.7 million systems in the last financial year, compared to Nintendo's tally of 16.3 million video games machines.

The last time Sony topped the console sales list was in fiscal 2005.

Sony's PlayStation 4 has emerged as the bestselling video game console. But demand for Nintendo's Wii U has lagged far behind the original Wii, which was the most popular hardware of the last generation.

Sony, Nintendo and their US rival Microsoft will all be announcing new titles this week to coincide with the E3 video games expo in Los Angeles.

The Nikkei's report followed Nintendo's announcement that it was closing its European headquarters in Germany.