The bad times keep on truckin' for the game industry. The NPD Group released its US retail sales figures for July today, and the numbers were down by double digits for the fifth straight month.

　　AAAAAAAAAHHHH! Combining hardware, software, and accessory sales, games raked in $848.90 million for July, down 29 percent from the previous July's $1.19 billion take. Software sales were off more sharply than analysts expected, suffering a 26 percent drop to $436.99 million. Rough as that number was, gaming hardware performed even worse, down 37 percent to $280.94 million.

　　Hardware sales were down across the board, with the usual sales order well preserved. The DS topped all hardware with 538,900 units sold, followed by the Wii with an uncharacteristically earthbound 252,500 systems sold--the lowest since the supply drought of the system following its 2006 launch. The Xbox 360 was off from its July 2008 total by less than 2,000 systems, selling 202,900 over the month. The PSP, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 2 brought up the rear, selling 122,800, 121,800, and 108,000, respectively.

　　On the software side, Nintendo's Wii Sports Resort took home the sales trophy, with the Wii Motion Plus pack-in game moving 508,200 copies in its debut month. The only other new release to make the top 10 was Electronic Arts' NCAA Football on the Xbox 360 and PS3, which placed second and third with sales of 376,500 and 237,400, respectively.

　　In fact, Nintendo and Electronic Arts dominated the sales charts, with the Mario maker securing six of the top 10 spots and EA mopping up the remaining four. Mario Kart DS performed particularly well, with the game's 132,200 sold pushing it as high as the sixth spot, nearly four years after its November 2005 release.

　　US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - JULY 2009

　　Software: $436.99M (-26%)

　　Hardware: $280.94M (-37%)

　　Accessories: $130.97M (-12%)

　　Total Games: $848.9M (-29%)

　　TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - JULY 2009

　　Nintendo DS: 538,900

　　Wii: 252,500

　　Xbox 360: 202,900

　　PSP: 122,800

　　PlayStation 3: 121,800

　　PlayStation 2: 108,000

　　TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE SKUs - JULY 2009

　　Title / Publisher / Units**

　　1) Wii Sports Resort w/ Wii MotionPlus (Wii) / Nintendo / 508,200

　　2) NCAA Football 10 (X360) / EA / 376,500

　　3) NCAA Football 10 (PS3) / EA / 237,400

　　4) Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Wii) / Nintendo / 164,300

　　5) Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel (Wii) / Nintendo / 156,600

　　6) Mario Kart DS (DS) / Nintendo / 132,200

　　7) Pokemon Platinum (DS) / Nintendo / 116,400

　　8) Fight Night Round 4 (X360) / EA / 116,400

　　9) New Super Mario Bros. (DS) / Nintendo / 101,800

　　10) EA Sports Active (Wii) / EA / 96,800

　　** = Figures include Collector's Editions and non-hardware bundles.