Xbox 360's Crackdown tops February software sales, while DS and Wii lead hardware pack

February proved to a great month for the video game industry, as the NPD Group's latest North American sales data highlight an increase in sales for both gaming software and hardware. According to the NPD Group, game software sales for the month of February totalled $441 million USD, a 28 percent growth over the sales tallied for the same period last year. Overall console sales figure came out to $334 million USD, while portable software sales accounted for the remaining $107 million USD. The big winner for February was Microsoft's Crackdown, which sold an impressive 427,000 units.

1. Crackdown (Xbox 360) – Microsoft – 427K
2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – Nintendo – 371K
3. Diddy Kong Racing (DS) – Nintendo – 262K
4. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) – Nintendo – 130K
5. Guitar Hero 2 w/ guitar (PS2) – Activision – 130K
6. Gears of War (Xbox 360) – Microsoft – 119K
7. Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360) – Take-Two – 113K
8. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Xbox 360) – Capcom – 111K
9. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii) – Nintendo – 109K
10. NBA Street Homecourt (Xbox 360) – Electronic Arts – 102K

Nintendo continues to be the media darling in the February console hardware sales front. Their DS continues to dominate the charts with 485,000 units sold, while the Wii took second place with 335,000 units. The Wii sales numbers are food for thought given that Nintendo is infamously having a hard time keeping the console in stock at retail.

Nintendo
DS - 485,000 units
Wii - 335,000 units
GameBoy Advance - 136,000 units

Microsoft
Xbox 360 - 228,000 units

Sony Computer Entertainment
PS2 - 295,000 units
PlayStation Portable - 176,000 units
PS3 - 127,000 units