The NPD Group’s North American sales numbers for the month of June are in, and there’s no slowing down Red Dead Redemption on the software end.

The Rockstar westerner remains the best-selling title for the second month in a row with its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions taking the first and third spots, respectively, and none other than Super Mario Galaxy 2 tucked in between.

Red Dead sold a total of 960k copies across both versions, while the Wii platformer came just shy of 550k.

Looking at the hardware, the new Xbox 360 model (451,7k), as expected — announced and released halfway through the month — handily outsold the PS3 (304,8k) and even slid in front of the Wii (422,5k) by roughly 30,000 units. The DS (510k) remains the biggest seller of them all however.

Full breakdown follows.

1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360), 582,900
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii), 548,400
3. Red Dead Redemption (PS3), 380,300
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii), 200,900
5. Just Dance (Wii), 174,800
6. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
7. Toy Story 3 (NDS)
8. UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360)
9. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Wii)
10. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3)

Home consoles
Xbox 360: 451,700
Wii: 422,500
PlayStation 3: 304,800

Handhelds
Nintendo DS: 510,700
PSP: 121,000

Sony marketing executive Peter Dille believes that hardcore gamers “look down their nose” on motion controlled gaming. That is to say, they look down on Nintendo’s motion controlled gaming. What they’re all truly pining for is a more accurate, more advanced motion control scheme like the PS3’s forthcoming Move. Dille explained that Wii gaming for hardcore players is “not particularly satisfying for them because it’s not terribly precise or challenging, it’s more social.”

Does this then mean that the PlayStation Move will not accomodate social experiences? Of coures not. Quoth Dille, “We’ll have games that the whole family can play that are very social , but we’ll also be able to do hard-core gamer games via a motion device that has never been done before. It’s too early to say what the killer app or signature game is but we’ll continue through the spring and late summer before we make a decision on which game is the poster child or the best one to move the Move.”

A more accurate control scheme appealing to hardcore gamers while also drawing in casual, social gaming, all in a package that’s more fun and rewarding than the Wii? Which, if any, of Peter Dille’s promises will Move ultimately deliver?

In a recent interview with Edge, Xbox product director Aaron Greenberg claimed that third-parties “have struggled” in developing games for the Wii. While it’s no secret, Greenberg has numerical data to back up his arguments: 70% of third-party developers have already signed on to create Project Natal-based games — an impressive figure, considering the motion-based Natal is still far from release.

Greenberg believes strong Natal support is based in the popularity of 360 platform, “A couple of things play into that: People know we’re a software company, we have the best tools and internal support; and second, people who buy Xbox 360 buy a lot of games. Third parties have really thrived on our platform. Look at Wii – while it’s done really well, third parties have struggled, so we’ve left a lot of room for people to believe in the ecosystem, and Natal is a part of that.”

Ubisoft’s soon-to-be-released Red Steel 2 could have been sent to the presses with a different name on the box, a recent interview reveals.

According to creative director Jason VandenBerghe, the thought of re-branding the cel-shaded Wii launch title follow-up did cross the developers’ minds but, for obvious reasons, was a road not taken.

“Well, the question has certainly come up. But let me put it to you this way: if I was here, getting ready to release a different game, (call it ‘Blue Iron’) a first-person sword-and-gun fighting game exclusively for the Wii, made by the Red Steel team, shipped by Ubisoft, I’m going to assume your first question would be, ‘oh, you mean like Red Steel?’”

E3 is fast approaching and TVGB plans on being there to get the lowdown on everything we can, so in case anyone is looking for me, I have gone to arrange my travel plans. Granted, the expo does not happen until June 15 through June 17, but it is imperative that I make sure space is still available in the local hotels, especially after Nintendo teased their E3 lineup today.

During a meeting with investors, Satoru Iwata named three huge draws for their area at E3 this year: Super Mario Galaxy 2, the new Zelda game for the Wii, and – drum roll please – the Wii vitality sensor. Of course, Nintendo will have to bring other toys to the party, but if anyone says they are not curious to see just what the sensor is going to be capable of, they are liars.

Brave: A Warrior’s Tale tells the story of Brave, who had to defend his village from a dark force known as Wendigo. Years later as the village elder, Brave spins the tale of his adventures to the children. One child, Courage, who has to venture out and battle creatures and defend the village again from the Wendigo.

Brave: A Warrior’s Tale is available for both the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 for a suggest retail price of $29.99.

Family Fun Football is an arcade style casual sports game. Gamers can choose one of the game’s included characters or unlock a mode to import gamer’s Mii into the game. The game features the ability to coach teams with the Wii Remote choosing offensive or defensive plays.

Some of the game’s features are:

Simple Playbook: a coaching playbook that teaches players the game of football.
Power-Ups: power-ups during gameplay to enhance attributes.
Quickplay: Choose 2 teams and start playing immediately.
Season: a 9 game season.
Tournament: play though a double elimination tournament.
Mascot Mode: play as the team mascot
Mii Compatibility: gamers can load their Mii and play against other Mii’s.

Family Fun Football is rated E for Everyone and has a suggest retail of $29.99.

Fingers crossed that they can get it to look nearly as good as the PC version

After success with PC and DS titles, the Trackmania series is set to suck precious spare time from thousands more unsuspecting gamers as they prepare to launch the next logical step in their diabolical scheme; the imaginatively titled Trackmania Wii. Trackmania Wii is in development by Firebrand Games – the smart people behind the fantastic DS entry, Trackmania DS (where do they get these names from?).

Smoke rises from the Firebrand PR machine as they crank it up to full power, gearing up for the launch with demonstrations of their latest title at German gaming event Gamescom 09, occurring at the end of this month in Cologne.  Firebrand CEO, Mark Greenshields said:

“Firebrand has always strived to develop racing engines that make the current generation of machines do things that no-one thought possible 18 months ago. Gamescom is Europe’s highest profile gathering of industry execs, and we want to take this opportunity to demonstrate to a global audience that Firebrand are still at the cutting edge of race game technology and design, and that we are ready for the challenges of 2010 and beyond… We altered people’s perception of just what the DS could do with Race Driver, GRID and TrackMania DS, and TrackMania Wii is no less jaw dropping. If you’re a publisher looking to tap into the lucrative racing genre then we can help give you a competitive advantage over your peers.”

Firebrand Games also developed Trackmania DS

Hmm… perhaps Greenshields is more geared up for blowing his own trumpet in between brown-nosing executives at this event rather than letting us plebs have a look. It’s a shame as I’ve always been a fan of the Trackmania series. It’s one of the few racing games that doesn’t take itself too seriously while also having solid pick-up-and-play gameplay aesthetics – It’s the Burnout for the casual crowd, which is funny as I always thought that Burnout was Burnout for the casual crowd. Expect a release date and snippets of information about the game to come out during the event.

As can be seen in the pictures, the game has a child and is not a simulator arcade football title, but without too many rules. The company has also distributed a list of special moves:

Super theft: Take the ball of the foot of your opponent in a jiffy with this amazing rapid e placaje.

Helix Kick: deceives the goalkeeper with this incredible shot corkscrew.

Shoot Banana: Make the ball do a curve – the doorman will not know for which side the ball comes.

Chopper: An incredibly effective Dodge will all blow up when near opponents – including your own colleagues!

Unstoppable shot: Drop all that aggressive hitting anyone who gets in your way to the goal.

Shot Gatuna: regates Avoid your opponents and defended as if you were gliding on a butter knife.

Stealth Attack: When Sam Fisher back to their night vision goggles can see no one – ideal for reaching the goal without being seen.

Eagle shot the murderer of Altair training will help you climb up the air and unleash a deadly attack that will leave the goalkeeper out of action until the ball enters the goal.

Jump Acrobat: Why move to defend when you can jump over it? The other team never expect this!

The shooting “plunger” The weapon of choice Rabbo create a super powerful blow.

Flash attack: Jade will use the flash on your camera to temporarily paralyze their opponents and make them lose the ball.

Dribling perfect Opponents remain paralyzed by seeing the incredible movements of Pele with the ball, making it impossible to stop.

The super bike: The stunning backflip with Mia Hamm of the bicycle will become one of the best shooters in the area.

Change of pace: An explosion of pace to help you catch your opponents. .

Super Dodge: Jump over or around the players quickly with these fantastic tricks and easy to use.

The Conduit was one of the most hyped titles to come out for Wii this year, and with such attention comes a lot of pressure about what comes next for the developers and the game itself. A little over a year ago when we chatted with the guys at High Voltage about the possibility of a sequel, they were hopeful for the future. And that hasn’t changed.

High Voltage producer Joshua Olsen was recently interviewed by a Spanish podcast about the possibility of a sequel to the first-person shooter. ”The Conduit is the first part for our hero and we want to make more parts to tell more things about him,” he said. Olsen also stated that actual work on a sequel is not under way just yet and they need a little bit more help from the fans. Olsen stated, “…it all depends on the fans and sales but it’s a little early for now to assume anything.”

If only the All-Seeing Eye could tell us for sure what the future holds…