The gaming console world has seen some dramatic changes as Nintendo’s Wii has gone past Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and reached the number one spot in the US sales chart.

According to The NPD Group's June sales figures, North America has recorded Wii console sales of about 666,000 last month, bringing the total number of sold units to 10.9 million. The company managed to reach this incredible number in only 19 months.

These new figures indicate something that Nintendo is probably very proud of: the Wii is now outselling Microsoft’s Xbox 360, launched one year ahead of the former. Up to this point, about 10.5 million units of the Xbox 360 have been sold.

The video game industry is on a continuously ascending path; in the US, in the first half of 2008, sales adding up to no less than $8.3 billion were recorded. These numbers show a 36% increase when compared to the same period of 2007.

Nintendo does not show any signs of slowing down. The company’s press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo Business Summit brought its fans news with regard to upcoming console peripherals and several game titles.

Most importantly, Nintendo presented the new Wiimote pluggable peripheral called MotionPlus, which will give players the chance to experience true one-to-one movement. The second peripheral Nintendo said it would launch was Wii Speak.

Other announcements were made with regard to the soon to be launched games: Shaun White's Snowboarding (which will make use of the balance board), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades and the DS-exclusive Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown, coming this holiday season.