The Xbox 360’s strong performance on Black Friday wasn’t enough to help Microsoft close the sales gap with rival Nintendo in the gaming console market, according to research group NPD.In fact, Nintendo’s red-hot Wii system outsold the Xbox by almost 3-to-1 in November. Wii shipments in the month totaled 2.04 million, while Xbox shipments came in at 836,000. Sony’s PlayStation 3 ranked a distant third, with shipments of just 378,000 units, said NPD. In the portable market, the Nintendo DS ranked first with 1.57 million shipments–easily topping the Sony PSP’s 421,000 shipments.

Xbox 360’s middling performance may come as a shock to Microsoft. Last week, Redmond said sales of its Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment console increased 25% on Black Friday compared with last year’s post-Thanksgiving shopping binge, and outpaced sales of PlayStation 3 3-to-1. Microsoft said console sales were spurred by the recent release of hot-selling games like Gears Of War 2, Fable II, and Lips.

In its most recent quarter, Microsoft reported that Xbox 360 shipments increased 22% year over-year to 2.2 million units. The jump comes as Microsoft takes steps to reinvigorate the Xbox platform and position it as more than just a gaming device.

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