As usual Nintendo was quick to respond to the NPD data revealed a little while ago. The publisher noted that the Nintendo DS and Wii were back in the top two spots in March, while the DS (including the new DSi XL) set a new record for portable system sales in the month of March.

The Nintendo DS sold over 700 000 units while the Wii chalked up sales of nearly 560 000 in March. Nintendo pointed out that post-holiday inventory has begun to improve and that Nintendo systems accounted for 59% of all videogame hardware sold in March.

“Demand for Nintendo fun continues unabated,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We’re glad so many people are able to get their hands on our systems as we prepare for the May launches of Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii and Picross 3D for our Nintendo DS systems.”

Nintendo also performed well on the software side of things, with four of the Top 10 best selling games in March being Nintendo platform exclusives. Pokemon SoulSilver sold 1.01 million units while Pokemon HeartGold sold 761 000 units, New Super Mario Bros. Wii 457 000 and Wii Fit Plus 339 000.