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The NPD Group released its monthly hardware sales data for June yesterday. As was also the case for May and April, sales for both consoles and software were strong showing month to month, as well as annual year over year, gains.

For hardware, sales was up 34% to $399m. Besting strong May numbers, Nintendo, with its attention to the user experience and effort to reach out to new gamers, again dominated both full–size and portable hardware categories. In June, Nintendo sold 562k DS units (compared to 423k in May) and 381.8k Wii’s (compared to 338k in May). The numbers for the Wii are especially impressive given the scarcity of supply and difficulty that still remains in obtaining one of the consoles.

Microsoft and Sony finishing second and third in console sales and both also saw improvements over May numbers in total units sold. (In the June numbers, no sales data was released for Sony’s PS2 platform which was the top 4 seller overall in May besting both the Xbox 360 and PS3.)

Software sales for the month were also up solidly, turning in a 22% gain to $543m in revenue. Overall, in an exceptional show of strength as more titles hit the market, Nintendo held six of the top ten spots with games for either the Wii or DS platforms. Activision did well demonstrating continued interested in alternative controller based games with its Guitar Hero game with a top ten finish for both the Xbox 360 and PS2. In a poor showing for Sony, there wasn’t a single title for the PS3 platform that broke into the top ten.

With all companies doing well relative to last month, and trending consistently upward in all categories, it’s too early to predict if Sony’s recent price changes, or Microsoft’s issues with reliability will impact overall sales or top three ranking over the next two months. Sony is optimistic they will. In a statement to Reuters Sony’s head of Computer Entertainment America, Jack Tretton said "The jump in sales bodes very well for [Sony] heading into the fall as we launch an impressive arsenal of hardware and software." Numbers for August and September will likely give the best insight as to where the market is heading.

The numbers for June:

Hardware

• Nintendo DS: 562,000
• Wii: 381,800
• PlayStation Portable: 290,100
• Xbox 360: 198,400
• PlayStation 3: 98,500

Games

• Mario Party 8 – Wii (Nintendo) – 426,200
• Wii Play – Wii (Nintendo) – 293,200
• Pokemon Diamond – DS (Nintendo) – 288,400
• Pokemon Pearl – DS (Nintendo) – 214,700
• Forza Motorsport 2 – Xbox 360 (Microsoft) – 197,400
• Guitar Hero II – PS2 (Activision) – 197,350
• Guitar Hero II – Xbox 360 (Activision) – 177,600
• Pokemon Battle Revolution – Wii (Nintendo) – 157,900
• Resident Evil 4 – Wii (Capcom)
• The Darkness – Xbox 360 (Take Two)