USA: Xbox 360 Second to Wii in Jan

North American stats collator, NPD, has released its figures for games hardware and software sold in its audited retailers for the month of January. Remember that this is probably heavily biased by the Obama Effect, the fact that the Steelers won the Superbowl, but not by Joaquin Phoenix's interview with David Letterman.

So, Nintendo (which either is or isn't competing with Sony and Microsoft depending on which executive you believe) sold more than everybody else in both console and handheld.

In terms of console sales Sony came second...to Microsoft, which came second to Nintendo even though no one is competing with Nintendo except when they are. In fact both PS3 and PS2 sales combined didn't beat sales of the 360 or come within sniffing distance of Wii.

On the handheld front, Sony came a very long way second to Nintendo - with which it is competing when it comes to handhelds. Microsoft still hasn't shrunk the Xbox nor gamed-up the Zune, so it can't play.

In terms of game sales, Nintendo absolutely kicked everybody's backside. The Xbox 360 came next... with only one entry in the Top 10 for PS3.

Console
Wii - 679,200
Xbox 360 - 309,000
PlayStation 3 - 203,200
PlayStation 2 - 101,200

Handheld
Nintendo DS - 510.8K
PSP - 172.3K

Software
1- Wii Fit - Nintendo - Wii - 777K
2- Wii Play - Nintendo - Wii - 415K
3- Mario Kart - Nintendo - Wii- 292K
4- Left 4 Dead - EA - 360 - 243K
5- Call Of Duty: World At War - ActiBlizz - 360 - 235K
6- Skate 2 - Electronic Arts - 360 - 199K
7- Guitar Hero World Tour - ActiBlizz - Wii - 155K
8- New Super Mario Bros - Nintendo - DS - 135K
9- Mario Kart DS - Nintendo - DS - 132K
10- Lord Of The Rings: Conquest - EA - PS3 - 113K