The industry-tracking NPD Group released its February tallies for the US gaming market Thursday evening, and the numbers show significant growth in both hardware and software sales year over year.

　　Game sales were up nearly 28 percent from $345 million to $441 million, while hardware sales nearly doubled. For February 2006, gaming hardware accounted for $203 million in the US, while last month's system sales added up to $402 million. Combining those numbers with accessory sales, the industry as a whole was up more than 53 percent, from $639 million to $978 million.

　　On the hardware side, Nintendo's DS led the way, selling 485,000 systems during February. Its console counterpart was the second-best-selling system, as 335,000 Wiis were sold in the US. Domestically, the Xbox 360 sold around 228,000, while Sony saw its older hardware outselling newer offerings. The PlayStation 2 moved 295,000 units, followed by the PlayStation Portable's 176,000, and the PlayStation 3's 127,000.

　　While Nintendo posted the best numbers in the hardware sector, it was a Microsoft game that claimed the top of the software sales charts. Sporting a coveted invite to the Halo 3 beta testing program, the Xbox 360 game Crackdown had the top of the charts on lockdown for February, selling 427,000 copies during the briefest of months.

　　Top 10 games for February, 2007, based on number of units sold:

　　1. Crackdown--Xbox 360

　　2. Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii

　　3. Diddy Kong Racing--DS

　　4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess--Wii

　　5. Guitar Hero 2 bundle--PlayStation 2

　　6. Gears of War--Xbox 360

　　7. MLB 2K7--Xbox 360

　　8. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition--Xbox 360

　　9. WarioWare: Smooth Moves--Wii

　　10. NBA Street: Homecourt--Xbox 360