In the month of March, Sony Computer Entertainment America continued to lead the videogame industry, with PlayStation 2 and the PS (PlayStation Portable) leading the pack as the top selling hardware and portable platforms in North America, and PlayStation 2 leading software and accessory sales, according to data released by the NPD Group.

Consumer demand for the PlayStation 2 remains strong, March NPD data showed that PlayStation 2 was the top selling hardware platform selling close to 277K units compared to Microsoft's Xbox 360 which sold fewer than 192K units and Xbox which sold close to 83K units, and Nintendo's GameCube which sold almost 63K units.

On the portable gaming front, in March PSP sold close to 186K units, making it the best-selling portable in terms of dollar sales. Following a record-setting launch last March, the PSP has quickly become a cultural icon and a market-altering force with more than 4.5 million units sold in North America.

NPD data also showed that PlayStation 2 led March sales on the software front, selling more than 6 million units, while software for Microsoft's Xbox sold close to 2.2 million units and Xbox 360 sold more than 1.6 million units, software for Nintendo's GameCube sold close to 1.5 million units. To date more than 345 million units of PlayStation 2 software have been sold in the U.S.

There were 104 new games introduced in March, selling more than 4.2 million units. The best selling new game in March was Square-Enix's Kingdom Hearts II for PlayStation 2, which sold more than 614K units. The top selling new game for PSP was Sony Computer Entertainment America's MLBR'06: The Show which sold almost 69K units.

With more than 1.3 million units sold, PlayStation 2 also sold the most accessory units and generated the most revenue in March according to NPD.