Microsoft sold 330,000 Xbox 360 game consoles in the U.S. in March, a 25 percent increase over the same month last year, according to results released this afternoon by the NPD Group market research firm. The result came despite an overall decline in the video-game industry, including decreasing U.S. sales of the competing Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo still did well, leading the U.S. market with more than 600,000 Wii units sold. However, that compared with more than 700,000 units sold in the same month last year. Sales of the PlayStation 3 were 218,000, down from more than 250,000 a year earlier.

Overall, the video-game industry in the U.S. saw a 17 percent decline in sales of hardware, software and accessories for the month. It was a rare sign of weakness in an industry that has been largely immune to the turmoil in the global economy.

NPD analyst Antita Frazier said in an emailed statement that the decrease was due in part to Easter being in April this year, and March last year. But she acknowledged that the overall decrease in console sales wasn't expected.

"If there was one area that surprised me this month, it was hardware sales," Frazier said. "While it's not unusual for March hardware sales to be lower than February, I thought we'd see higher unit sales on most platforms. The Xbox 360 was the only platform to achieve a year-over-year unit sales increase."

Microsoft spokesman David Dennis credited factors including strong interest in games for the Xbox 360. Four games for the Microsoft console were among the top 10 sellers for the month in the U.S., led by the Xbox 360 version of "Resident Evil 5." Among other things, Dennis pointed to the positive effects of Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming system.

"I think Live certainly is a sticky service that keeps people active and engaged in the platform," he said.

In an emailed statement, Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesman Patrick Seybold didn't address the PS3 console sales decline directly, but he cited the appearance of three PlayStation 3 titles in the NPD top 10 for the month.

"We’ve got a confident plan ahead and have many cards yet to deal, so consumers can rest assured there’s a lot to look forward to from PlayStation this new fiscal year," Seybold said.