Market research firm NPD has released US sales figures for the next gen consoles. Once again, the Wii is still holding strong, despite shortages. The Wii beat out the competition by nearly double; Nintendo moved 403,600 units in the month of August.

The Xbox 360 saw a boost, likely due to recent price cuts. Once again taking second place in monthly sales, 276,700 were sold.

As for the PS3, well, recent price cuts didn't help it all that much. Only 130,600 PS3s were sold in August. The PS2 is still outselling it's successor. 202,000 Playstation 2s were sold. Sony is trying to market the PS2 as a cheap alternative to the Wii and it's large library of strong games is keeping it moving. The PS2 can be bought for about $140, though it does not come with a pack in game, however, sometimes stores will include one at no extra cost.

As for portables, the Nintendo DS is still selling strong at 383,300 units sold. The PSP only moved half that, selling 151,200 units. The slow PSP sales can be attributed to people waiting for the PSP Slim, which just came out this week.

As for games, the August sales charts shattered the recent notion that 'M' rated games sell more. NFL Football simulator Madden 2008 took the one, two, and four spots on the 360, PS2, and PS3 respectively. Madden 08 sold 896,600 units for the Xbox 360 alone. Undersea shooter Bioshock took third place with 490,900 units sold for the Xbox 360. Rounding out the list are a lot of modern classics (in order) such as Wii Play, Metroid 3, Mario Strikers, Guitar Hero 2 (PS2), Mario Party 8, and Guitar Hero Encores: 80s (PS2).

So what can we take from these sales. Well, we can certainly say that game demographics haven't changed much in the last year. Both the Wii and PS3 have been out for 10 months now, and the Wii has managed to consistently outsell every other console during that period. The PS3 has consistently been in third place while the Xbox 360 juggernaut still chugs along at a respectable second. As for the games themselves, people seem to be falling back to perennial favourites. Sports games are still at the top of the list, as they've always been. The Madden series is EA's flagship franchise. Bioshock seems to be the only dark horse in the list, which is rounded off by traditional platformers and party games. It's really a kick in the nuts to hardcore gamers who still believe they dominate the gaming world. Sales are showing that the big three are attracting a more casual crowd.