The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of March, representing sales for the United States for the five week period of March 1st to April 4th.

Notables this month:

• Resident Evil 5 debuts to impressive sales

Hardware numbers:
WII: 601.0k (120.2k per week)
NDS: 563.0k (112.6k per week)
360: 330.0k (66.0k per week)
PS3: 218.0k (43.6k per week)
PSP: 168.0k (33.6k per week)
PS2: 112.0k (22.4k per week)

2009 Year-to-Date in US:
WII: 2,033,200
NDS: 1,661,800
360: 1,030,000
PS3: 697,200
PSP: 539,300
PS2: 344,200

Lifetime-to-Date in US:
NDS: 29,203,000
WII: 19,573,000
360: 14,890,000
PSP: 14,880,000
PS3: 7,491,000

Difference between March 2009 and 2008 Numbers
Platform: 2009 - 2008: +/- : % Change
WII: 601,000 - 721,000: -120,000 : -16.64%
NDS: 563,000 - 698,000: -135,000 : -19.34%
360: 330,000 - 262,000: +68,000 : +25.95%
PS3: 218,000 - 257,000: -39,000 : -15.18%
PSP: 168,000 - 297,000: -129,000 : -43.43%
PS2: 112,000 - 216,000: -104,000 : -48.15%

The top ten software went as follows:
01. [360] Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) - 03/2009 - 938k
02. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Nintendo) - 03/2009 - 805k
03. [360] Halo Wars (Microsoft) - 03/2009 - 639k
04. [PS3] Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) - 03/2009 - 585k
05. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 05/2008 - 541k
06. [PS3] MLB 09: The Show (Sony) - 03/2009 - 305k
07. [PS3] Killzone 2 (Sony) - 02/2009 - 296k
08. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 02/2007 - 281k
09. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 04/2008 - 278k
10. [360] Major League Baseball 2K9 (2K Sports) - 03/2009 - 205k

Industry Sales:
Mar-08 - Mar-09 - CHG - Quarter 1 08 - Quarter 1 09 - CHG
Video Games $1.72 Billion - $1.43 Billion - -17% - $4.24 Billion - $4.25 Billion - 0%
Video Games Hardware $552.04 Million - $455.55 Million - -18% - $1.41 Billion - $1.43 Billion - 1%
Video Games Software $952.14 Million - $792.83 Million - -17% - $2.24 Billion - $2.21 Billion - -2%
Video Games Accessories $217.55 Million - $185.67 Million - -15% - $588.92 Million - $604.47 Million - 3%

Things to point out:

• Resident Evil 5 combined total: 1523k
  • 61.6/38.4 split 360/PS3
• Breakdown of top ten:
  • Software platforms: WII - 3, 360 - 3, PS3 - 3, NDS - 1
  • Software publishers: Nintendo - 4, Sony - 2, Capcom - 2, Microsoft - 1, 2K Sports - 1
• Killzone 2 sales meter out, does not push hardware
  • outsold by Halo Wars: Halo Wars' opening month > Killzone 2 LTD
• Notable misses: [WII] Madworld, [NDS] Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Sales down from last year
  • Easter was last year was in March; Easter is in April this year
• Plateaus reached:
  • NDS surpasses 29 million sold in US
  • WII surpasses 19 million sold in US
  • 360 surpasses PSP in consoles sold in US
  • WII surpasses 2 million sold in 2009
  • 360 surpasses 1 million sold in 2009

Things to look for next month:

• Easter sales
• Nintendo DSi launched at beginning of tracking period
• Notable new releases:
  • [NDS] Rhythm Heaven