The NPD date for the month of May is now out, and as expected Rockstar North's opus Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360 version) is still on top of the software charts, towering over Nintendo greats such as Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit .

On the hardware side of things, the Nintendo Wii is still on top (again, as expected), but the most surprising thing in May's results is that the PlayStation 3 managed to gain an upper hand over the Xbox 360, albeit over a slight margin. This is quite the change compared to last month's NPD numbers, where the Xbox 360 maintained a marginal lead over the PS3 by less than ten thousand units.

All of the consoles managed to sell less units compared to what was expected this month. The Nintendo Wii scored 675,100 units, which is just a few ten thousands short of its projected 722,300 sales numbers. The DS came in next with 452,600, and then Sony's PS3 with 208,700. Both the Xbox 360 and the PSP ended up last in the race, scoring 186,600 and 182,300 units sold, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 managed to secure its place in the number one position in May's best-selling software charts with 871,300 units sold, beating even Mario Kart Wii by almost a hundred units. Wii Fit, contrary to its apparent popularity with the intended market, came in at third with 687,700 units sold - a few hundred thousand short of its 1 million mark.

Check out the charts below to see how your favorite console/popular title is faring:

Hardware sales in the US for May 2008

1. Nintendo Wii - actual sales: 675,100; expected sales: 722,300
2. Nintendo DS - actual sales: 452,600; expected sales: 504,500
3. PlayStation 3 - actual sales: 208,700; expected sales: 218,900
4. Xbox 360 - actual sales: 186,600; expected sales: 227,100
5. PSP - actual sales: 182,300; expected sales: 210,500

Software sales in the US for May 2008

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - actual sales: 871,300; expected sales: 1,097,600
2. Mario Kart Wii - actual sales: 787,400; expected sales: 853,800
3. Wii Fit - actual sales: 687,700; expected sales: 1,002,300
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - actual sales: 442,900; expected sales: 577,300
5. Wii Play - actual sales: 294,600; expected sales: n/a
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - actual sales: 171,100; expected sales: 247,500
7. Iron Man (PS2) - actual sales: 130,600; expected sales: n/a
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - actual sales: 116,800; expected sales: n/a
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - actual sales: 107,000; expected sales: n/a
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time - actual sales: 102,000; expected sales: n/a