U.S. video game sales post largest decline since 2000

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. sales of video game equipment and software fell 31 percent to $1.17 billion in June, research group NPD said on Thursday, the largest decline since 2000.

Sales of game software fell 29 percent to $625.8 million, while hardware sales dropped 38 percent to $382.6 million. Sales of accessories declined 22 percent.

Nintendo's Wii was once again the top-selling home console in June with 362,000 units, although sales were down around 45 percent from the same month last year. The Wii has been the top home console in the U.S. for 21 consecutive months, Nintendo said.

Microsoft's XBox 360 was the No. 2 home console, followed by Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2.

Sales of the Nintendo DS family of handheld consoles totaled 767,000, NPD said, well above the 164,000 recorded by the Sony PSP.

The top-selling game title was Activision Blizzard's "Prototype," which sold around 600,000 units across two platforms.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)