Tuesday 24 July 2007
Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony - Titans of the videogame industry and sworn enemies on the console battlefield. But which of gaming's Big Three is winning the war in 2007 so far? Well, using the monthly US hardware sales figures released by market researchers NPD Group, we've tallied up the past six months worth of numbers (Jan-June) to find out how consoles and handhelds have fared in the States during the first half of 2007. Here are the results:

Total US hardware sales January-June 2007
DS: 2.7 million
Wii: 2.1million
Xbox 360: 1.3 million
PSP: 1.3 million
PS3: 763k

As you can see, Nintendo is currently cutting the competition to shreds with staggering sales for both Wii and DS, while PS3 numbers look decidedly unhealthy in comparison. The runaway popularity of Nintendo's machines is also reflected in the chart released by NPD showing the ten biggest selling games in the US for the year to date, with the Mario-maker occupying six slots. PS2 and 360 both have two games in the list, which means no show for any PS3 titles. Here's the complete rundown:

Top ten games January-June 2007
01 - Pokemon Diamond (DS)
02 - Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii)
03 - Pokemon Pearl (DS)
04 - God of War II (PS2)
05 - Guitar Hero 2 w/ Guitar (PS2)
06 - Guitar Hero 2 w/ Guitar (360)
07 - Mario Party 8 (Wii)
08 - Crackdown (360)
09 - Diddy Kong Racing (DS)
10 - Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Wii)