NPD: March belongs to DS, PS2

The sheer anticipation that builds up around the NPD Group's monthly video game sales data is like an immense fanboy volcano just waiting to erupt. Predictions are made, forum wars are waged and in the end, some worshippers are left in agony as the facts (here represented by hot molten lava) eat away at their pale flesh. But on to cooler topics -- total industry sales are up by 33%!

The detailed GameDaily BIZ report reveals that total hardware sales rose by 69% in March to $370 million. Of that, console hardware raked in $257 million, making for an increase of 93%. NPD analyst Anita Frazier calls it an "outstanding month," though some console manufacturers might not share that particular sentiment. The North American console sales for March are as follows:

• Nintendo DS: 508K

• Sony PlayStation 2: 280K

• Nintendo Wii: 259K (2.1 million total)

• Microsoft Xbox 360: 199K (5.3 million total)

• Sony PSP: 180k

• Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 148K

• Sony PlayStation 3: 130K (1.2 million total)

• Nintendo Gamecube: 22K

• Microsoft Xbox: N/A

As usual, the DS remains unchallenged at the top, content with watching its opponents slaughter each other down below. Fueled by God of War II, the PS2 overtakes the Wii, itself beleaguered this month by a sales drop of nearly 23%. If people are buying systems as fast as Nintendo can make them (their claim, not ours), it would appear that Nintendo is making fewer and fewer systems available each month.

Adding to that peculiar lose-lose situation, the system only held a single game in the software's top 10:

• God of War II (PS2): 833K

• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (Xbox 360): 394K

• Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360):291K

• Wii Play w/remote (Wii): 273K

• Motorstorm (PS3): 199K

• Diddy Kong Racing (DS): 189K

• Spectrobes (DS): 165K

• Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360): 165K

• MLB '07: The Show (PS2): 164K

• Def Jam Icon (Xbox 360): 148K

Let the eruption begin.