TOKYO, JAPAN: Nintendo Co Ltd's DS handheld game machine outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation Portable for the first time in six months in Japan in August thanks to popular software titles, a game magazine publisher said.

Nintendo sold 333,248 units of the DS in the five weeks ended Aug. 31, compared with 291,944 units of the PSP, data from Enterbrain showed on Friday.

Nintendo's "Rhythm Heaven" music game for the DS topped the best-selling software list for the month, followed by Sega Sammy Holdings Inc's "Phantasy Star Portable" for the PSP.

In the console game market, Nintendo maintained its leading position by selling 180,612 units of the Wii. Sony's PlayStation 3 sales came to 52,719 units and Microsoft Corp sold 44,714 units of the Xbox 360, Enterbrain said.