NPD: 2007 US game sales up 43%

The NPD Group has released its US hardware and software sales data for the month of December, bringing the year's total sales to USD 18 billion.

That figure represents a 43 per cent increase over 2006's total sales of USD 12.5 billion.

On the hardware side, NPD estimates that 8.5 million DS handhelds were sold in 2007, more than twice the 3.82 million PSP handhelds sold by Sony.

Nintendo sold 6.29 million Wii consoles, Microsoft sold 4.62 million Xbox 360 consoles, and Sony sold 2.56 million PS3 consoles during the year.

Sony also sold 3.97 million PS2 consoles in 2007, bringing its life-to-date sales to 41.12 million.

The year's Top Ten best-selling games in the US were:

1. Halo 3 (360) - 4.82 million
2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) - 4.12 million
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) - 3.04 million
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) - 2.72 million
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 2.52 million
6. Pokemon Diamond (DS) - 2.48 million
7. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 1.90 million
8. Guitar Hero 2 (PS2) - 1.89 million
9. Assassin's Creed (360) - 1.87 million
10. Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 1.82 million