For the first time since the launch of Halo 3 in 2007, Microsoft's Xbox 360 managed to outpace Nintendo's Wii to become the top selling gaming console in the U.S. for February. Overall the industry had a poor month with total sales down 15 percent from last year, according to NPD, but that didn't stop Microsoft from moving 422,000 units during the month - up from 391,000 in 2009.
Nintendo sold 397,900 Wii consoles, down significantly from 753,000 last year, while Sony moved 360,100 PlayStation 3 consoles versus just 276,000 in 2009, as well as 101,900 units of the previous-generation PlayStation 2. Handheld machines still ruled the market, though, with the Nintendo DS emerging once again as the overall hardware sales champ thanks to unit sales of 613,200.
BioShock 2 and Modern Warfare 2 seem to have had something to do with Microsoft's success this month, with Xbox 360 versions of those games taking the first and third spots in the software charts, selling 562,900 and 314,300 copies respectively. New Super Mario Bros on the Wii was a close second with 555,000 copies sold.