When Microsoft gave their Black Friday report earlier this week, it didn't require a keen set of eyes to notice that something seemed missing. While they readily boasted 3-to-1 sales of the Xbox 360 versus the PlayStation 3, nowhere was Nintendo and their Wii console mentioned.

On CNET, Don Reisinger isn't surprised by the fact that Microsoft -- or Sony, for that matter -- tend to gloss over such things, but he does seem a little confused by just why they feel that way.

Earlier this year, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for the Xbox 360, said the Wii isn't a competitor at all.

"I think for us, we don't really see the Wii as a direct competitor, we actually very much complement the Wii experience," he gushed. "It's obviously clear that we're going head-to-head with the PS3 in this generation."

Sony isn't innocent either, of course. Just a few weeks later, the company's CEO, Howard Stringer, told Bloomberg that he's played the Wii and he's not impressed.

"I've played a Nintendo Wii," he said. "I don't see it as a competitor. It's more of an expensive niche game device."

But for a "niche gaming device" which isn't a "direct competitor," Reisinger notes that it's Wii who blazed the path for others to follow in on Black Friday, and that on the whole, it has almost outsold both Microsoft and Sony's efforts combined.

Call me crazy, but when I go to Target or Gamestop and I see the Wii sitting next to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 and I consider the fact that they all play games from the same developers (many of which are the same), have the same general price level, and provide the same basic experience, I'm inclined to believe they're competitors.

There's no debating the fact that the Wii provides a different way to play games, but it's equally undebatable that it's a competitor to the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. Are we supposed to believe that Microsoft's decision to drop the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade to $199.99 wasn't to compete on price with the Wii? Are we supposed to believe that Sony's DualShock 3 controller's Sixaxis functionality isn't the result of the Wiimote?

Give me a break.

The Wii is a direct competitor to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. What does it hurt to say that if you're Sony or Microsoft? I just don't get it. -- Don Reisinger, CNET

Perhaps in the face of such overwhelming odds, they figure the best way to save face is by focusing on their closest competitor, who also happens to be marketing a much more similar device?

Well, as it happens, Microsoft has made such a concession... but only in Japan, strangely enough.

"We continue to focus tremendously internationally, Europe in particular is a very big area of focus for us.

Japan has always been an important market for us. That's an interesting challenge because you're competing with Sony and Nintendo on their home turf there." -- Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Strategy and Business Development, Interactive Entertainment Business, to Reuters via Spong

In May, Sony's Kaz Hirai had mentioned that he feels "our competition is not Microsoft or Nintendo, but basically any form of entertainment that is competing for the consumers' attention," which is a bit more broad; sort of like saying "yes, we would rather you play PlayStation than Wii, but we'd also rather you play PlayStation than take a walk in the park or read a book."

But truthfully, I think Nintendo is something of a competitor for either company, as now and again I do see the question come up of "which console should I get?" with Wii often listed as one of the choices (though not always recommended). With a lot of people tightening their belts as a result of the economy, the Wii may not be as "complementary" as Microsoft would like, and that people consider the Wii as more of an "or" than an "and," it seems to reflect that Nintendo does indeed stand in the way of consumers' dollars reaching either Microsoft or Sony as much as anything, as the latter company indicated.

Of course, one has only to wonder if Nintendo considers either one any competition at all.