While there are many different games released for the various consoles on a daily basis some of them become much more popular than others. A perfect example of this is pretty much every game Activision puts out such as the Call of Duty franchise which has continuously sold like hot cakes. However if you thought that a member of the Call of Duty franchise was the highest grossing game of all time here in the United States you would be wrong – but it is an Activision game.

NPD has just come forth today to give us some insight into the highest grossing video games with none other than Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock topping the charts. According to these reports Guitar Hero III beats out Black Ops with a gross income of $830.9 million while Black Ops clocks in at $787.4 million. Almost a billion dollars revenue from just a single game is certainly no laughing matter.

Of course, that is unless you’re Bobby Kotick!

According to NPD, which tracks game sales in North America, PC downloads have surpassed retail sales in the first 6 months of 2010. Over 11.2 million PC games were sold as downloads, while only 8.2 million at retail. Despite the rise in downloadable games, NPD says that PC revenues have dropped 21% this year, and might drop to 25% for the whole 2010.

Sales tracker NPD has released their console sales for May, and as usual, the DS and Wii take the top spots.

• DS: 384,000
• Wii: 335,000
• 360: 195,000
• PS3: 155,000
• PSP: 59,000

On the software side, it was Red Dead Redemption which took the top spot:

1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360): 945.900
2. Red Dead Redemption ( PS3): 567.100
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii):  563.900
4. UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360): 221.100
5. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3): 192.300

Sales of downloadable games are raising rapidly, from Valve’s Steam platform, to EA’s Link and Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store, it’s hard to get an overview and some solid sales numbers, especially for games that are download-only. No digital content provider shares sales numbers, which is where NPD comes in.

NPD has been tracking retail sales for a long time, and is the third party sales tracking service that offers the most accurate sales charts each month in North America. The company has revealed plans of a digital sales chart for North America, and combat what it calls “misinformation”, from the publishers on sales numbers. However, it remains unclear how it plans on getting sales numbers from digital distributors such as Steam, as digital sales are a lot harder to track than retail sales.

The NPD Group have released the sales figures for the month of June today.

The DS is currently holding the top spot in hardware sales, with its home console counterpart trailing behind. Amazingly, the PlayStation 2 is still almost selling as much as the PlayStation Portable. The price is obviously a big factor in consumer decisions, with the failing economy and other circumstances.

As for software, Prototype debuted and sold over 400,000 copies, topping the charts. Many sports titles follow the sandbox action game, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Fight Night Round 4.

Hardware:

1. Nintendo DS 766.5K
2. Wii 361.7K
3. Xbox 360 240.6K
4. PlayStation 3 164.7K
5. PSP 163.5K
6. PlayStation 2 152.7K

Software:

1. PROTOTYPE (360) 419.9K
2. UFC 2009:UNDISPUTED (360) 338.3K
3. EA SPORTS ACTIVE BUNDLE (Wii) 289.1K
4. TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10* (Wii) 272.4K
5. WII FIT (Wii) 271.6K
6. FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (360) 260.8K
7. FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (PS3) 210.3K
8. MARIO KART W/WHEEL (WII) 202.1K
9. RED FACTION:GUERRILLA (360) 199.4K
10. INFAMOUS (PS3) 192.7K

via NeoGAF

No, we’re not saying you’ve gained weight. Really. We just mean there’s more of you. No, not like that. Really you look great we promise. All we’re saying is that the sheer number of female gamers has increased over the last twelve months. It’s not really us saying it either, this information comes from an NPD survey. The percentage of female console players went up from twenty-three to twenty-eight percent, mainly due to the Wii whose use increased by nineteen percent.

The handheld market rose as well with the “heavy usage” category rising by four percent amongst females, which can likely be blamed on the Nintendo DS. The ‘extreme gamers’ (those who play 39 hours or more per week) rise by a whopping four percent. Before all the ‘hardcore’ gamers out there start chiming in about how the Wii and DS are toys, let me remind you how much easier life would be for a gamer if you had a girlfriend/wife who understood your hobby and maybe even encouraged it?

The monthly sales data from NPD is out, and with the announcement that Nintendo has sold 20 million Wiis in the US and that the month of May was the worst in almost three years, here’s the sales breakdown:

Top selling games for the month of May:

1. UFC 2009 Undisputed, Xbox 360: 679,600
2. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board, Wii: 352,800
3. EA Sports Active Bundle, Wii: 345,800
4. UFC 2009 Undisputed, PS3: 334,400
5. inFamous, PS3: 175,900
6. Pokemon Platinum Version, Wii: 168,900
7. Mario Kart w/ wheel, Wii: 158,300
8. Punch Out!!, Wii: 156,900
9. X-Men Origins Wolverine Uncaged edition, Xbox 360: 120,700
10. Wii Play w/ remote, Wii: 109,800

It’s no secret — far from actually — that Nitendo’s Wii is a massive success, with over 50 million units sold world wide. Nintendo now has one more thing it can brag about; being the fastest selling console in US history.

According to recent numbers NDP, the Wii has sold 20 million units in the US in only 31 months, making it the fastest selling console ever, surpassing the PlayStation 2.

Bad news for Sony, as NPD’s latest April sales reveal that Sony’s PS3 only sold 127,000 units, the lowest since before the release of the 40 GB model in October 2007. To make matters worse, the age-old PS2 outsold the PS3 for the month, selling over 172,000 units.

Granted, the PS2 just received a price cut to $100, which has fueled sales, and might suggest that the PS3 is in desperate need of a price cut as well. If that’s not reason enough for a price cut, the NPD numbers show that the cheaper PS3 SKU outsold the expensive one by 9 to 1.

Rock Band has surpassed quite a milestone, the game franchise has sold for over $1 billion in North America since its release in 2007, according to NPD (who else?). The $1 billion number is for retail only, and excludes DLC. NPD also revealed that GH has sold over 40 million tracks from the Guitar Hero store as well.

Rock Band’s main competitor, Guitar Hero, has already surpassed the 1 billion mark — a feat which it accomplished over a year ago.