Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tops March Console Games Sales; Wii Outsells Xbox 360, PS3

Sales-tracking firm The NPD Group today revealed that Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl has topped the North American software sales charts for the month of March with a staggering 2.7M units sold, knocking Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare off a four-month reign at number one.

In terms of hardware, the Wii outsold the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, followed by the Nintendo DS in close second. March hardware sales for the North American market were as follows:

1. Wii - 721,000

2. Nintendo DS - 698,000

3. PSP - 297,000

4. Xbox 360 - 262,000

5. PlayStation 3 - 257,000

6. PlayStation 2 - 216,000

"Nintendo systems represented 58 percent of all video game hardware sold in March in the United States," said Nintendo marketing VP Cammie Dunaway. "We expect our momentum to continue with big upcoming game launches like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit."

North America's top-selling console titles during March were:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 2,700,000

2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft, X360) - 752,300

3. Army of Two (Electronic Arts, X360) - 606,100

4. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 409,800

5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (Ready at Dawn, SCEA, PSP) - 301,600

6. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Vicarious Visions, Activision, Wii) - 264,100

7. MLB 2K8 (Kush Games, 2K Sports, X360) - 237,100

8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 237,000

9. Army of Two (Electronic Arts, PS3) - 224,900

In all, the North American video game market amassed $1.7 billion in sales during March 2008, showing a 57% growth over March of last year. Of that figure, hardware accounted for $551.3M, with software responsible for $945.6M and accessory sales making up the remaining $220M.