Sales tracking firm NPD Group has released its hardware and software sales analysis for the month of May 2011, which marked the lowest month of sales in the industry since October 2006. NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier blamed the decline on a “light slate” of new releases. Only 42 new titles were introduced this May, compared to 58 in 2010 and 72 in 2009.

Sluggish showing in terms of gross video game sales aside, this month was hardly a somber one for Microsoft. Xbox 360 unit sales were up 39 percent year over year, totaling 270K for the entire month. Microsoft’s Major Nelson also stated that 360 took the number one spot for May, which leaves Nintendo’s Wii trailing behind for yet another consecutive month, despite a recent price cut.

See the full breakdown of hardware and software sales below.

Hardware
Xbox 360 – 270K
PlayStation 3 – 177K

Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) Rank Publisher
L.A. Noire (360, PS3) 1 Take 2 Interactive
Brink (360, PS3, PC) 2 Bethesda Softworks
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) 3 Disney Interactive Studios
Portal 2 (360, PS3, PC) 4 Electronic Arts
Mortal Kombat 2011 (PS3, 360) 5 Warner Bros. Interactive
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) 6 Activision Blizzard
Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3) 7 Majesco
NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC) 8 Take 2 Interactive
Just Dance 2 (Wii) 9 Ubisoft
Lego Star Ware III: The Clone Wars (Wii, NDS, 360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) 10 Lucasarts

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