U.S. sales of video game hardware and software received a 53 percent boost last month, mainly due to the release of the highly successful Metal Gear Solid 4 game. The game, which was released exclusively for Sony's Playstation 3 gaming console, fueled a dramatic increase in the sales of PS3 consoles, which went up a stunning 94 percent, according to market researcher NPD.

Konami Corp.'s blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was the month's best seller, overtaking the two month reign of Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto 4. Overall, 775,000 copies of Konami's MGS4 were sold, together with 406,000 units of Playstation 3. Sony's console ranked third, as Nintendo sold 783 DS consoles and 667 Wiis.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was finally released June 12, 10 years after the release of Metal Gear Solid and 20 years after the first Metal Gear, first published by Konami in 1987 for the MSX2 home computer. The impressive game was developed by Kojima Productions and will only be available on Sony's Playstation 3 gaming console.

The stealth action video game is the seventh in the successful Metal Gear series which is credited with kicking off the stealth gaming genre, in which avoiding direct encounter with the enemy is emphasized over attacking upfront.

MGS4 follows Old Snake, the special operations agent and mercenary who works for a fictional black ops and espionage unit. Snake is trying to figure out the rise of a conglomerate of Private Military Companies, or PMCs. Graphics look stunning, which combined with the already legendary gameplay of the series, now further improved, have driven the game's Metacritic score to 96 percent and the Game Rankings score to 92 percent. The only consistent criticism is linked to the awkward storyline which doesn’t always make sense.