The latest sales figures released by NPD for the month of June have shown that it doesn’t always take a multiplatform record breaking game (Grand Theft Auto IV) to boost hardware sales, but an exclusive release (Metal Solid Gear 4: Guns of the Patriots for PS3) might just do the trick.

Furthermore, it seems that the U.S. market is not all about the hardcore gamers, as Nintendo’s Wii managed to steal Microsoft’s number one spot with the Xbox 360, reaching 11,008,200 units sold, compared to the 10,465,900 units for the Xbox.

Last month alone, the Xbox lost to both PS3 and Nintendo, but perhaps the recently announced price cuts in the Xbox 360 might do the trick, although the competition remains fierce and lures consumers with similar strategies (Sony introduced an upgraded version of the PS3 for the same price as the old one).

The U.S. video game industry in June totaled $872.6 million in software sales, up 61% compared to the same period last year, $615.1 million in hardware sales, up 54% compared to June 2007, and $202 million in accessories, up 25%. Overall, the U.S. video games industry totaled $1.69 billion, 53% over last year’s figures in the same period.

As NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier noted in an e-mail, “the video games industry continues to perform in the face of an ever-increasingly difficult economic environment as many turn to more in-home entertainment,” adding that “even if growth slows over the back half of 2008, the industry is poised to achieve record-breaking revenues of over $22 billion for the year.”

If terms of hardware sales, PS3 benefitted from the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4, but it had little luck with Grand Theft Auto IV, despite record-breaking sales of the game. MSG4 on the other hand not only did it get PS3 to 405,000 units sold, but it also kept a strong number one position, with 774,600 copies sold in June.

Despite Microsoft’s achievement last month of reaching an impressive record of almost eight software units purchased for every unit of hardware, it wasn’t enough to kill the Wii phenomenon, that not only managed to surpass the Xbox overall, but in monthly sales too: Wii sales reached 666,700 units, while Xbox 360 took the number 5 spot with 219,000 units.

Nintendo DS topped the selling hardware chart with 783,000 units sold, followed by Wii (666,700 units), PlayStation3 (405,000 units), PlayStation Portable (337,400 units), Xbox 360 (219,000 units) and PlayStation 2 (188,000 units).

PS3 managed the highest monthly sales outside the holiday season that Metal Solid Gear 4 (774,000 units) is undoubtedly responsible for, as Frazier pointed out. The top three was completed by Guitar Hero On Tour (422,300 units sold) and Ninja Garden II (372,000 units sold).

Nintendo maintained strong top 10 positions in terms of software sales, for DS and Wii: Guitar Hero On Tour at number 2, Wii Fit with Board at number 4 (372,700 units), Wii Play with Remote at number 5 (359,000 units), Mario Kart Wii with Wheel at number 7 (322,400 units), Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures for Wii (294,000 units) and DS (267,800 units) at number 8 and 9.

With the never-ending console war come great ambitions, such as those of Sony chief executive Kaz Hirai, who wants to top the success of PS2 by selling 150 million PS3s worldwide, as he told the Financial Times. “Otherwise, why are we in this business?” And his goal could turn reality under one big, essential condition: price cuts!

Peter Moore on the other hand sees a bright future for Wii, who will not only keep the lead, but will also  “have at least half the installed base of the overall industry” while “Xbox 360 and PS3 are going to fight over the balance,” as he told the Times.

Top-selling HARDWARE:

Nintendo DS--783,000
Wii--666,700
PlayStation 3--405,500
PlayStation Portable--337,400
Xbox 360--219,800
PlayStation 2--188,800

Top-selling SOFTWARE:

1.[ PS3] Metal Gear Solid 4 (Konami)—774.600
2. [DS] Guitar Hero On Tour (Activision)—422.300
3. [360] Ninja Gaiden II (Microsoft)—372.700
4. [Wii] Fit with Balance Board (Nintendo)—372.700
5. [Wii] Play with Remote (Nintendo)—359.100
6. [360] Battlefield: Bad Company (EA)—346.800
7. [Wii] Mario Kart with Wheel (Nintendo)—322.400
8. [Wii] LEGO Indiana Jones (LucasArts)—294.500
9. [DS] LEGO Indiana Jones (LucasArts)—267.800
10.[PS2] LEGO Indiana Jones (LucasArts)—260.300