Nintendo, Microsoft Tops in Games Sales

Video-game publisher Electronic Arts(ERTS) is still struggling to find its groove as the industry transitions to the latest gaming consoles.

U.S. game software sales for EA declined 25.6% in February to $65.8 million, according to The NPD Group. Sales are down 4% in the quarter to date. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company's leading game title was NBA Street Homecourt for the Xbox 360, followed by Madden NFL 07 for Sony's(SNE) PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

Overall, game sales grew nearly 28% year-on-year last month to $440.7 million, largely based on increased sales on the Nintendo and the Xbox 360 consoles.

Other game publishers fared better. Sales for Activision(ATVI) increased nearly 20% year on year to $19.8 million and grew nearly 40% in the quarter to date.

The Guitar Hero game franchise continued to drive growth with 211,000 units sold, while Call of Duty 3 game for the Xbox 360 sold 40,000 units last month.

Troubles with a group of its shareholders notwithstanding, Take-Two(TTWO) continued to perform well as sales grew nearly 55% to $31.5 million.

Of Take-Two's latest game titles, The Warriors sold about 19,000 units, Ghost Rider sold about 82,000 units, and Major League Basketball 2K7 saw 176,000 units move last month.

Sales for THQ(THQI) were up 16.4% to $22 million.

Xbox 360 continued its strong performance; sales were up 156% year-on-year thanks to Microsoft's(MSFT) Crackdown, the best-selling title for the console. Gears of War the No. 2 game on the Xbox 360 console, followed by Take-Two's Major League Basketball 2K7.

Among the latest generation of consoles, Nintendo's Wii continued its lead with 335,000 units sold in February, followed by the Xbox 360 at 228,000 units and then Sony's PS3 at 127,000 units.

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