Today the NPD Group released the August 2009 hardware and software sales data for North America. Industry's still not rolling in the green stuff but there were a couple surprises in the software charts this month. If sales figures get you all hot and bothered, read on.

Hardware

• DS - 552.9k
• Wii - 277.4k
• 360 - 215.4k
• PS3 - 210.0k
• PSP - 140.3k
• PS2 - 105.9k

All around, things are a bit rosier than last month. The PS3 price cut and new PS3 slim model caused a tight race between the PS3 and Xbox 360. The DS had another dominant month - yeesh, when the hell is Nintendo going to run out of people to sell that thing to?

Software

• Madden NFL 10 (360) - 928,000
• Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - 754,000
• Madden NFL 10 (PS3) - 665,000
• Batman: Arkham Asylum (360) - 303,000
• Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3) - 290,000
• Madden NFL 10 (PS2) - 160,000
• Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) - 130,000
• Wii Fit (Wii) - 128,000
• Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 120,000
• Fossil Fighters (DS) - 92,000

Batman: Arkham Asylum's strong showing isn't a shock if you read the report earlier today that they've sold nearly two million copies worldwide to date. Still, the split between the Xbox 360 and PS3 is closer than usual with multi-platform releases. The 360 usually wins those contests handily - after all, look at the results for Madden NFL 10. Fossil Fighters was a real dark horse too; never underestimate the purchasing power of little kids.