Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co. extended the lead of its Wii video-game console over Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, with stores selling 425,000 players in the U.S. in July.

Retailers sold 170,000 Xbox 360s and 159,000 PlayStation 3 consoles, researcher NPD Group Inc., based in Port Washington, New York, said today in an e-mailed statement. Total sales of game consoles more than doubled to $286 million, NPD said.

Demand for consoles, handheld players and the new games they use may produce record U.S. sales of $16 billion to $18 billion for the industry this year, NPD analyst Anita Frazier said. Sales are up 43 percent for the year through July from the same period a year earlier, she said.

``The industry is performing at a new level,'' Frazier said in an e-mail. ``It's all going really well right now, and I think it will continue through year-end.''

Kyoto-based Nintendo also led in sales of handheld video- game players, with its DS selling 405,000 units, compared with 214,000 units of Tokyo-based Sony's PSP, the researcher said.

Sony's PlayStation 2 was second among consoles with sales of 222,000 units in July.

``Madden NCAA Football 08,'' a title from Electronic Arts Inc., was the best-selling game, with 397,000 units sold for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft's Xbox 360. Activision Inc.'s ``Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s,'' made for the PlayStation 2, was second with sales of 339,000 copies.

Nintendo shares rose 3,200 yen to 53,500 yen in Osaka. They have gained 73 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 23, 2007 19:41 EDT