Of the big-three games companies only Microsoft's Xbox 360 has seen increased sales, with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii both seeing a downturn.

Microsoft Xbox 360

Out of the big-three, Microsoft was the only company to post a profit. In its statement Microsoft attributed the growth as, "due to the ongoing momentum of the console, Kinect, and Xbox Live."

According to its report the Xbox 360 platform saw a 29 per cent growth in revenue taking in $293. The console managed to ship 1.7 million units, marking a 200,000 increase over the previous quarter. This meant that the year had seen 3.4 million more Xbox 360's shipped than in 2010, with 13.7 million consoles being sold worldwide.

Thanks to this Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices division, which makes and develops the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE, enjoyed a 30 per cent growth in revenue for the quarter and a massive 45 per cent increase for the year.

Sony PlayStation 3

Running in the opposite direction Sony Corporation suffered a $191 million loss for the financial quarter. This compares to last year, when the company enjoyed an impressive $327 million profit.

While the loss has largely been attributed to the slew of disasters that have hit the company -- chief among these were the Japanese earthquake and the subsequent PlayStation Network hacking saga -- the dwindling sales of its flagship PlayStation 3 console has also been seen as a significant factor.

The company reported a severe downturn in its number of PlayStation 3 sales. In the quarter Sony only managed to shift 1.8 million PS3 units. This compares to last year when in the same quarter it managed to sell 2.4 million PS3 consoles.

While the news does mean that the PS3 is the year's best selling console, it also shows dark clouds forming on the PS3's horizon. According to recent reports, the sales figures that allowed the console to take the title nearly all came from the first month of the quarter, with those that followed shifting into the Xbox 360's favour.

Had the data taken into account even another few weeks sales, it is likely that the Xbox would have stolen Sony's crown.

Nintendo Wii

Of the three company's Nintendo faired the worst posting a net loss of $325 million.

This was largely due to a 50 per cent drop in sales, with Nintendo only taking in $1.2 billion worldwide.

While the loss has largely been attributed to its 3DS console's ongoing poor performance, the reversing fortune of its Wii has also been a significant factor.

The company's Wii console saw the most marked drop of any console, with only 1.56 million consoles and 13.44 million games being sold.

Since the news broke Nintendo changed its full-year product forecast from $1.4 billion to a meagre $257 million.

The company has since attributed the hefty downturn to the increased research and development cost its 3DS and forthcoming Wii U consoles inflicted.

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