US: 360 tops PS3 in August hardware sales

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has edged out Sony’s PS3 in the US during August, shifting 195,400 units compared to its rival 185,200 PS3s.

However, both platforms were eclipsed by the DS (518,300 units), Wii (453,000) and Sony’s PSP (253,000).

"The PSP and PS3 systems achieved the greatest percentage gain of all now-gen systems,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. The sales acceleration of these systems, combined with the recent Xbox 360 price cuts should fuel future growth of this category."

In terms of software, Madden dominated holding the top three positions in the charts. Whilst Nintendo software also performed well, with three games in the Top Ten.

"Madden NFL ’09 was the top-selling game of the month, and launched with 2.3 million units out of retail doors in it’s first month, besting last year’s ’08 title by 2 per cent,” continued Frazier. Year after year, the industry can count on the Madden release to bring folks into stores during the relatively lazy days of late summer."

NPD Hardware Charts (August):

– Nintendo DS: 518,300
– Wii: 453,000
– PSP: 253,000
– Xbox 360: 195,200
– PlayStation 3: 185,400
– PlayStation 2: 144,100

NPD Software Charts (August):

1: Madden ‘09 (360, EA)
2: Madden ‘09 (PS3, EA)
3: Madden ‘09 (PS2, EA)
4: Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo)
5: Mario Kart (Wii, Nintendo)
6: Wii Play (Wii, Nintendo)
7: Soul Calibur IV (360, Namco)
8: Too Human (360, Microsoft)
9: Madden ‘09 (Wii, EA)
10: Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS, Activision Blizzard)

To read more about Microsoft’s response to the NPD stats, click here.

To read more about Sony’s response to the NPD stats, click here.

To read more about Nintendo’s response to the NPD stats, click here.