Though market expectations were generously high for the month of April, NPD Group's monthly sales report depicts a less than stellar roundabout for the next-generation console race. Estimates climbed as high as 2,201,500 next-gen units sold, but the market only managed to push 1,969,800 units over the counter.

And the largest contributor to that statistic once again is the Nintendo Wii (36%), which rounded up cash from 714,000 sales within the month of April. It performed better than the estimated 688,100 unit-selling point.

The Xbox 360 just managed to lead by several hundred units against the PlayStation 3 with 188,000 versus 187,100, but both fell short of the estimates set by market analysts. It was expected that both platforms would hit all time highs, but unfortunately, Grand Theft Auto IV's (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) stellar sales didn't drive more to join in on the action.

The DS dropped some 180,000 units behind the predicted 600,100 unit selling point with 414,800, while the PSP fell short of the 257,700 unit estimate with 192,700 units sold in April.

Software numbers aren't great either, as NPD results show that the growth of sales for games has not reached the market expectations. The anticipated software sales drivers, Mario Kart and Grand Theft Auto IV, are now thought to have cannibalized sales of other games and mostly underperformed in sales.

Mario Kart, however, performed as well as the market expected it to do.

Even if sales didn't reach an optimistic US$ 978.4 million, it managed to rack up US$ 654.7 million for April - a 68% year-on-year rise. The hardware and software sales figures in quick summary are as follows (arranged by rank):

Hardware sales in the US for April 2008

1. Nintendo Wii - actual sales: 714,200; expected sales: 688,100
2. Nintendo DS - actual sales: 414800; expected sales: 600,100
3. PlayStation Portable - actual sales: 192,700; expected sales: 257,700
4. Xbox 360 - actual sales: 188,000; expected sales: 335,000
5. PlayStation 3 - actual sales: 187,100; expected sales: 320,600

Top ten software sales in the US for April 2008

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - actual sales: 1,850,000; expected sales: 2,296,700
2. Mario Kart (Wii) - actual sales: 1,120,000; expected sales: 1,117,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3) - actual sales: 1,000,000; expected sales: 1,328,000
4. Wii Play (Wii) - actual sales: 360,000
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - actual sales: 326,000; expected sales: 567,000
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PlayStation 3) - actual sales: 224,000; expected sales 322,100
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - actual sales: 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - actual sales: 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - actual sales: 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - actual sales: 141,000