Nintendo has put out a press release to combat yesterday's offering from Microsoft, and there are some interesting developments here:

Nintendo of America reported today that, based on direct communications with its retailers, its new NINTENDO GAMECUBE(TM) home video game console has reached sales of nearly 600,000 units in America in 15 days, or an average of 27 per minute -- nonstop -- since its November 18th introduction.

Because Microsoft has declined to estimate its actual consumer sales numbers, no fully accurate picture of comparative market activity is yet available. That data won't be available until The NPD Group releases its full projected sales report for the month of November in the next few weeks. For example, NPD's sample does not reflect system sales at Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, and also the largest retail outlet for NINTENDO GAMECUBE.

Those who are keen to make something of this should note: NPD numbers are not actual sales. They are estimates based on surveys of a cross-section of retailers; and as this notes, one of the country's biggest retailers is not included in the sample.

Thanks ShackNews.