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The NPD Group recently released their May 2008 numbers, tracking the four-week sales period of May 4th to May 31st. By the looks of it, the numbers overall were below people's expectations, with hardware and software numbers decreasing from last month.

On the hardware front, the PS3 and the DS were the only two systems to increase from April, while there are no PS2 numbers this month from the NPD, for reasons unknown:

May 2008 US Hardware Sales

1. Nintendo Wii - 675,100 units
2. Nintendo DS - 452,600 units
3. Sony PlayStation 3 - 208,700 units
4. Microsoft Xbox 360 - 186,600 units
5. Sony PSP - 182,300 units

The Wii comes up short in its bid to overtake the 360 in America, but it should pass it with June's numbers, being behind by approximately 90,000 units. Also with next month's numbers, the Nintendo DS will pass 20 million in the US alone. There is no noticeable bump, if any at all, in the Wii numbers from Wii Fit. It can best be assumed that it sold as it normally would, with not having much time on the shelves. As for the PS3, part of it most likely can be attributed to either consumers buying it for Grand Theft Auto IV, or buying one in anticipation for Metal Gear Solid 4.

On the software side, May only saw one major release: the ever-popular Wii Fit from Nintendo. The focus this month came on Grand Theft Auto IV, Mario Kart Wii and the aforementioned Wii Fit.

May 2008 US Game Software Sales

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 871,300 units
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 787,400 units
3. Wii Fit (Wii) - 687,700 units
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 442,900 units
5. Wii Play (Wii) - 294,600 units
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 171,100 units
7. Iron Man (PS2) - 130,600 units
8. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 116,800 units
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 107,000 units
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - 102,000 units

Seven games in the top ten are on Nintendo systems, with Wii Play and Guitar Hero III continuing to show off their massive legs. Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl continue to sell well, with the former about to reach 2 million copies sold in the US. The 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV has nearly a 2:1 copies sold ratio with the PS3 version, giving a grand total of over 4 million copies of the game sold in a little under five weeks.

Industry-wide, total sales dropped from April, while hardware and accessories essentially held serve, software sales dropped by around $100 million. There is a still a good increase from this point in time last year.

May 2008 US Games Industry Summary

Total sales - $1.12 billion USD
Console software - $536.9 million USD
Console hardware - $428.6 million USD
Console accessories - $150.8 million USD

What to look for in June: 

• Metal Gear Solid 4 and the PS3. With all of the hype the game has been getting, it's just a question of where it will break the charts and how it will impact the PS3.
• Walmart is running/ran a deal in the first couple weeks of June where consumers would get a $100 gift card with the purchase of the PS3. While the NPD doesn't use numbers from Walmart, the company will extrapolate the numbers to obtain a near-correct amount.
• Wii Fit was supply-constrained since launch, and will probably remain like that for the rest of June. Whether or not the US received more units this month, I'm not sure.
• Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden II also was a new release in June, but I don't expect it to make any impact in sales.