NPD: GTA 4, Wii Take Top Honors in May Sales

The NPD Group has released its U.S. sales figures for May, revealing the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV as the month's top-selling console game with the Nintendo Wii ranking as the best-selling hardware.

The game industry as a whole amassed $1.12 billion across the month, marking a 37% leap over last year's May figures. Despite its $90 price point, Nintendo's Wii Fit sold 687,700 units and clocked in as the month's third best-selling game.

For the first time since its November 2007 debut, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare failed to place among the month's ten best-selling titles.

May hardware sales in the United States were as follows:

1. Wii - 675,100 units

2. Nintendo DS - 452,600 units

3. PlayStation 3 - 208,700 units

4. Xbox 360 - 186,600 units

5. PSP - 182,300 units

Meanwhile, May's best-selling console games in the U.S. were:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar, X360) - 871,300 units

2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 787,400 units

3. Wit Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 687,700 units

4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar, PS3) - 442,900 units

5. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 294,600 units

6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo, Wii) - 171,100 units

7. Iron Man (Sega and A2M, PS2) - 130,600 units

8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Vicarious Visions, Wii) - 116,800 units

9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (Chunsoft, NDS) - 107,000

10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (Chunsoft, NDS) - 102,000 units

"The continued success of GTA IV is not translating into big hardware sales for either the PS3 or the 360 but there may yet to be a lift in June due to gift-giving for Father's Day and Graduations," noted NPD Analyst Anita Frazier.

Frazier went on to note that sales of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV have reached a combined sales total of 4.2 million units, making it the year's top-selling game so far.

"Coming in at number 12 on the top-sellers list, We Ski from Namco, which utilizes the Wii Fit balance board, was able to capitalize on Wii Fit's cross-promotions in circulars and at retail," Frazier added.

NPD also reported that year-to-date sales of Guitar Hero III and Harmonix's Rock Band have reached 2.5 million units 1.3 million units respectively, earning both games a place in the year's top selling titles.