When it comes to consoles, 2007 rang in the year of the Wii, ending the reign of the Playstation gaming systems.

The Wii beat Playstation 3 (PS3) in the number of units sold in December, according to a report by the NPD Group. The Nintendo Wii sold 604,200 units while Sony's PS3 sold 490,700.

These numbers reverse the group's earlier polling data, which indicated that among those planning to buy one of the systems, the majority favored the PS3 over its other next generation rivals.

Both systems lost out to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, which had been released in November 2005. Xbox 360 sales were counted at 1.1 million. These numbers reflected a dearth of supply in the new systems, with many selling out as soon as they were put on shelves.

Local State College stores experienced this shortage, and many customers looking for the new systems left empty handed, said Nicholas Glantz, product specialist at State College's Circuit City, 48 Colonnade Way.

Circuit City had about 25 Wiis and six Playstation 3s in for the holiday season, he said.

Both systems have been consistent in selling, he said, and they have sold out as soon as they hit shelves. However, he said that the interest in the Wii has been much greater than the PS3.

"We received three calls for the Wii this morning. There's not as much interest in the Playstation 3," he said.

He said at the moment Circuit City is sold out of Wiis, and he could not predict when the next shipment would be coming. Whenever the systems do arrive, they are sure to sell quickly, he said.

"The last shipment we got was four days ago," he said. "We opened at 10 and they were sold by 11."

At State College's Best Buy, media supervisor Ed Ladyka said the customers are showing much more interest in the Wii than the PS3.

"I fielded around 20 calls today for the Wii," he said. The store currently has the PS3 in stock, but not the Wii.

State College's Target, 315 Lowes Blvd., had about a dozen PS3s and 40 to 50 Wiis during the holiday season, said executive team leader Erik Dill.

He said both systems sold out as soon as they were introduced.

"We had people camping outside for two days in freezing cold weather and thunderstorms," he said.

While the Wiis are still selling out, PS3s are not as sought after, Dill said.

"We have a ton of PS3s, and they're not selling," he added.

The Wii costs around $250 compared to the starting price of around $600 for the PS3.

Harris Gordon, a high school student from Allentown, got the PS3 10 days after launch on Nov. 27.

"I love it," he said. "My favorite part is the HD [high-definition] gaming."

He has also played the Wii, which lacks the graphics power of the PS3, but supports a motion-sensitive control scheme.

"It gets boring really quickly," he said.

Steven Jacobs, also a high school student from Allentown, decided to get the Wii over the PS3.

"The PS3 is just so expensive. I never really wanted it," he said.

He said experienced first hand the scarcity of the new systems while trying to find a Wii.

"It took me like a month to find," he said. "I got mine in New York City at the Nintendo store."

Jacobs has played the PS3, but prefers the motion-sensitive controllers of the Wii.

Despite being part of the newest and most advanced group of gaming consoles, Sony's PS3 was beat by its own Playstation 2. The older, less expensive console recorded sales in December of 1.4 million.

Nintendo also had an older system selling well during the holidays. Its Nintendo DS system sold 1.6 million units, more than twice as many as the Wii.