Call of Duty 4 Still Tops in 08

The top games for January are in from the NPD Group, a videogame tracking firm that releases totals every month. Total game sales for the month took in $1.18 billion with $377.8 million in hardware sales, $610.1 million in software sales and $191 million in accessories sales.

The winners for January on the hardware front was once again Nintendo’s Wii, which sold 274,000 consoles in the U.S. But Sony’s PlayStation 3 is definitely gaining momentum, selling 269,000 consoles with the new lower price tag and beating out Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which sold 230,000 units. Nintendo DS remains a remarkable long-term winner in the handheld space with another 251,000 portables sold in January. Sony’s PSP continues to benefit from the price drop with 230,000 units sold last month.

On the gaming front, Activision’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat, was the top game in January. The first-person shooter sold 330,900 copies on Xbox 360 for the top spot and an additional 140,000 copies for PS3 for the eighth spot. Nintendo’s Wii Play game/remote bundle came in second with 298,100 copies sold. Nintendo had three of the Top 10 games of the month with Super Mario Galaxy selling 172,000 units on Wii for sixth place and Mario Party for Nintendo DS selling 138,500 copies for ninth place. Sega’s Mario & Sonic: Olympic Games for DS sold 133,000 copies in January.

Music continues to dominate the game scene as Activision’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock sold 239,600 copies on Wii for third place and 182,700 copies on Xbox 360 for the fifth slot. Electronic Arts’ $180 Rock Band bundle sold 183,800 copies on Xbox 360 for fourth place.

Rounding out the Top 10 is EA’s new Burnout Paradise for Xbox 360, which moved 144,100 copies at retail for a seventh place finish. That game, which is also out for PS3, stands out as the best in that franchise and one of the best racing games ever made.