According to Parappa the Rapper creator, Masaya Matsuura, size really DOES matter to the Japanese. He says they can't handle things that are too big. And that big black thing scares away the Japanese before they ever get a chance to enjoy it.

Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about the size of the Playstation 3 console!

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Matsuura stated that the PS3 is "currently" lagging behind but added, "Of course they have a chance to recover over time."

So what's the problem? According to Matsuura, it's not the price, and it's not the range of software available for PS3. The problem is the size: "It's too big for the Japanese."

And what else is too big? Well, according to Matsuura, "With Xbox, the problem is not the size of the hardware but of the AC adapter."

By contrast, Matsuura praised the Wii: "Wii is a very good piece of hardware. Many talented people from Nintendo make great ideas for game hardware, of course. Already I've been starting to think about Wii software, but it's very hard sometimes. Because can you keep shaking the controller for hours?

"Players can't spend a long time on gameplay, so this can be tough. So I respect Nintendo's activities, but for software designers like us, it's very hard."

Personally, I'm not sure I agree 100% with Matsuura. I think the Wii is outselling both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 because of its lower price and selection of super fun games. And I think the Xbox 360 is outselling the PS3 for the same reason. Regardless of why, the truth is that PS3 is languishing, but it's too early to sound the death knoll just yet. Sony experienced similar problems with the PS2 back in the day, and it's still outselling all current gen consoles.