Port Washington, N.Y. - Sales of video game hardware and software in the U.S. were up 37% in May from a year ago, to $1.12 billion, boosted by Take-Two Interactive's (NASD: TTWO) bestseller "Grand Theft Auto IV," which sold 871,300 units during the month, according to data from market research firm NPD Group. Nintendo led hardware sales for the fourth consecutive month, moving 675,000 Wii consoles and 453,000 DS handhelds, compared with sales of 209,000 Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 consoles and 187,000 Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) Xbox 360s.

Marina del Rey, Calif. - The U.S. market for advertising-funded mobile entertainment content will be worth $336.35 million by 2013, expanding the mobile entertainment space by 4.6%, according to a report from industry trade group the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF).

New York - Sales of Take-Two Interactive's (NASD: TTWO) "Grand Theft Auto IV" helped boost U.S. video game sales by in April by 47% from a year ago, to $1.23 billion. Despite sales of 1.85 million copies of Grand Theft Auto for Xbox 360 and 1 million copies for the PlayStation 3, this oddly did not translate into increased sales of the consoles, which in fact saw shipments decrease from March.

Los Angeles - Microsoft's (NASD: MSFT) Zune digital media player gained a bit of the MP3 player market share in NPD Group's latest rankings, now accounting for 4% of the total market, up from 3% in the first quarter of 2007, Wired.com reported.

Port Washington, N.Y. - Thirty-seven percent of Americans believe they will spend less on entertainment products and devices this year, compared to just 18% who anticipate spending more, according to a new survey conducted by market research firm NPD Group. Just under half of respondents (46%) said they thought they would spend about the same amount in 2008 as they did last year.

Port Washington, N.Y. - Bypassing the current troubles in the overall economy, U.S. video game sales hit $1.7 billion in March, up 57% from a year ago on strong sales of Nintendo's Wii and "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," according to industry sales data compiled by market research firm NPD Group. "You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the video games industry sales figures," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

New York - The digital music market may be bigger than previously thought, as a new report from market research firm NPD Group found that only 10% of customers at Amazon.com's (NASD: AMZN) new MP3 store had also purchased songs from Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store. "The fact that Amazon's early growth does not appear to be at the expense of Apple iTunes is a healthy indication that the digital music customer pool can expand into new consumer groups who have not yet joined the iTunes community," NPD analyst Russ Crupnick.

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store has surpassed Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to become the No. 1 music retailer in the U.S., according to new figures from market research firm NPD Group. iTunes surpassed the retail giant based on the amount of music sold during January and February.

New York - Despite concerns about the recession and a cyclical slowdown, the video game industry continues to grow in 2008. Monthly video game sales statistics from the NPD Group show that video game industry sales were up 34 percent to $1.3 billion, year over year, according to VentureBeat.

Port Washington, N.Y. - The amount of music that consumers acquired in the U.S. increased by 6% in 2007, but a sharp spike in digital download revenues could not offset declines in CD sales and the market saw a net 10% decline in music spending for the year, according to data from market research firm NPD Group. The firm also estimated that one million consumers dropped out of the CD buyer market in 2007 -- a flight led by younger consumers -- as 40% of U.S. teens said they did not purchase a CD in 2007, compared to 38% in 2006.

Port Washington, N.Y. - Market research firm NPD Group on Monday introduced a new series of quarterly reports that will track subscription-based PC games, video games and PC software. NPD's Video Game & PC Game Subscriptions Report will provide data on market size and title shares for paid online subscriptions to video games and MMO/PC games, gaming websites, and video game console services. Data will be culled from thousands of gamers ages 13 and older who are members of NPD's online panel of 3 million consumers.

New York - U.S. video game sales shot up 52% in November over the same period a year ago, climbing to $2.63 billion on strong sales of the Nintendo Wii and Activision's (NASD: ATVI) "Call of Duty 4" and "Guitar Hero 3," according to industry sales data compiled by NPD Group.

New York - U.S. video game sales rose 46% in August compared with the same period a year ago, led again by Nintendo's Wii console, and bolstered by the release of Electronic Arts' "NFL Madden 08," Reuters reported, citing sales data from market research firm NPD Group.

New York - U.S. video game sales were up 37% in July, boosted by increased sales of the recently-discounted PlayStation 3 and strong sales of competing consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo, Reuters reported, citing sales data from market research firm NPD Group.

San Francisco - U.S. video game sales rose 31% in June from a year ago, to $1.1 billion, buoyed by strong sales of next-generation consoles from all three major players, Reuters reported, citing data from market research firm NPD Group.

New York - Apple's iTunes Store has become the third-largest overall retailer of music in the U.S., behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group.

New York - U.S. video game sales rose 49% in May, to $815 million, spurred by sales of Nintendo's DS handheld, Wii console and "Pokemon" game franchise, according to various reports that cited sales data from market research firm NPD Group.

Port Washington, N.Y. - Children are being exposed to and adopting consumer electronics devices at earlier ages, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group.

San Francisco - Spurred by continued strong sales of Nintendo's Wii and DS systems, U.S. video game sales were up 20% in April from the same period a year ago, Reuters reported, citing industry sales data compiled by market research firm NPD Group.