"The [Nintendo DS] captures the top spot for hardware sales this month, marking the first time that any hardware system has sold in excess of 3 million units in any single month. The record for single-month console system sales still belongs to the [PlayStation 2] which sold 2.7 million units in December 2002," noted Anita Frazier, an NPD industry analyst.
The Wii was not the only winner in the last month of 2008. Both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 saw sales increase, selling 1.44 million and 726,000 units, respectively.
December came in as the first time that revenue for the video game console industry surpassed US$5 billion in any single month. To put the monthly total into perspective, sales for the entire year of 1997 were $5.1 billion.
