Nintendo’s response to the May NPD results has focused on Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit.

Nintendo noted that the NPD figures show healthy sales and a strong consumer response to these two Nintendo games which are designed to appeal to both novice and expert gamers. Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit finished in second and third place on the software chart, “demonstrating continued consumer response to new controls and experiences.”

“The Wii Wheel and Wii Balance Board accessories make game play fun for new gamers while presenting new challenges for those who have been playing a long time,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “The diversity of the seven Nintendo games represented in NPD’s top 10 for May demonstrates how Nintendo has something for everyone.”

According to NPD data the Wii and Nintendo topped hardware sales in the US with 675 089 and 452 608 units sold respectively. The Wii took 63% of current generation consoles sold in May while the Nintendo DS took 71% of the portable market. Nintendo pointed out that lifetime sales of the Wii now stand at nearly 10.2 million while lifetime sales of the Nintendo DS are over 20 million.

Wii Play continues to perform well, recording sales of over 295 000 in May and life-to-date sales of over 5.8 million. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness sold over 208 000 copies combined in May with life-to-date sales reaching over 613 000 copies.

19 of the top 30 best-selling games of May were made for Nintendo systems including third party titles such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision), We Ski (Namco Bandai), Game Party (Midway) and Boom Blox (EA).

NPD analyst Anita Frazier commented “Coming in at number 12 on the top-sellers list, We Ski from Namco, which utilizes the Wii Fit balance board, was able to captilize on Wii Fit’s cross-promotions in circulars and at retail.”

Nintendo didn’t point out that seven of the top ten software titles were for Nintendo platforms with six of those titles being published by the factory that made Mario. We suppose they didn’t have to, but still this non-gloating response is like a breath of fresh air.