The Microsoft Xbox 360 crawled on top of Sony Playstation 3 in a very weak month for video game sales. This August highlighted that the strong video game sector was finally caught up by the downward trend of the economy. Most analysts expected that the gaming industry would eventually be affected by the consumer spending woes, so it was just a matter of when this happened.

Nintendo Wii is still very much on top of its rivals, with 453,000 consoles sold, significantly more than the 195,000 units sold for Xbox 360 and 185,000 sold of Playstation 3. In fact, Nintendo DS ruled last month with 518,000 gadgets being bought by customers.

NPD claims that, nevertheless, 2008 will be another record year with around $22 billion in sales. Figures, as reported by NPD, are as follows:

Console sales:

1.Nintendo DS - 518,300 units
2.Nintendo Wii - 453,000 units
3.PlayStation Portable - 253,000 units
4.Xbox 360 - 195,200 units
5.PlayStation 3 - 185,400 units
6.PlayStation 2 - 144,100 units

Game sales:

1. Madden NFL 09 (360)- Electronic Arts - 1,000,000 units
2. Madden NFL 09 (PS3) - Electronic Arts - 643,000 units
3. Madden NFL 09 (PS2) - Electronic Arts - 424,500 units
4. Wii Fit with Balance Board (Wii) - Nintendo - 394,900 units
5. Mario Kart Wii with Wheel (Wii) - Nintendo - 328,700 units
6. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - Nintendo - 200,200 units
7. Soulcalibur IV (360) - Namco Bandai - 174,000 units
8. Too Human (360) - Microsoft - 168,200 units
9. Madden NFL 09 (Wii) - Electronic Arts - 115,800 units
10. Guitar Hero: On Tour (NDS) - Activision Blizzard - 111,200 units