March's NPD numbers are in, and boy are they a shocker. As always, many thanks to the NPD Group and sonycowboy at NeoGAF for reporting and the actual numbers.

The numbers can be found in the quote.

In regards to hardware sales, the Wii sales are astounding, taking into account that there was only one blockbuster release in March, that being Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Looking at the February NPD, the DS and the Wii both shot up from the previous month. The other systems kept relatively the same numbers from this month to last month, but keep in mind that March was a five-week tracking period, making it a drop in average weekly sales for the PlayStation family and the 360.

Software wise, Super Smash Bros. Brawl blowing the competition away was something to be expected, but probably not with an impressive showing of 2.7 million. Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III, and Wii Play are still going strong on the charts, keeping their holds on the chart since their respective releases. The newcomers include Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Army of Two, MLB 2K8, and a pair of PSP games, God of War: Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

However, the biggest news is the $945.6 million in total software sales, a 63% increase over last year's number, and around a 50% increase from February's impressive software total. The industry is growing, people.

[February NPD]