The NPD Group released the hardware sales for February 2009 today and we've compared the numbers with February 2008 to give you a breakdown of how each console is doing relative to the same time last year.

First, here are the numbers from February 2008, followed by the numbers from February 2009:

February 2008

• DS - 587,600
• Wii - 432,000
• Playstation 2 - 351,800
• PlayStation 3 - 280,800
• Xbox 360 - 254,600
• PSP - 243,100

February 2009:

• Wii - 753,000
• Nintendo DS - 588,000
• Xbox 360 - 391,000
• PlayStation 3 - 276,000
• PSP - 199,000
• PlayStation 2 - 131,000

The Wii had the biggest jump in sales, with 321,000 more units sold in February 2009 than February 2008 for an increase of 74%. The Xbox 360 enjoyed an increase of 54% with 136,400 more units sold. Those were, unfortunately, the only two "winners" this month.

The DS and PS3 had February 2009 figures roughly equivalent to last February; the DS was up less than 1% (400 units) while the PS3 was down less than 1% (4800 units). There were 44,100 less PSP's sold this February, resulting in a drop of 18%. The biggest drop was experienced by the PS2, with a 64% drop in sales (220,800). That's to be expected considering that console's age, though.

Lest you think I wrote this up as part of some Xbot conspiracy to embarrass PS3 owners, though, I'll point out that the PS3 sales for February 2009 are substantially higher than they were in January 2009. Here are the January 2009 figures for "the big three" consoles:

January 2009

• PlayStation 3 - 203,200
• Xbox 360 - 309,000
• Wii - 676,000

Compared to January 2009, PS3 is up 36% in February with 73,000 more units bought by American consumers. The 360 and Wii were up 27% (82,000 units) and 11% (77,000 units) respectively. This is probably what Sony will bring up in their reaction to the NPD figures and rightly so. Microsoft, meanwhile, will probably point to the February 2008 figures. When it comes to claiming sales dominance, it really depends on what sample you're using...unless you're Nintendo, in which case you're destroying everyone.