U.S. sales of Nintendo Co.'s Wii video-game console fell 17 percent in March, the first monthly drop since January 2008, according to researcher NPD Group Inc.

Sales of the world's most popular console fell to 601,000 players from 721,000 a year earlier, Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group said Friday in an e-mailed statement.

Stores sold 330,000 of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 players, a 26 percent gain, and 218,000 of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, a 15 percent drop. U.S. industry sales slid 17 percent to $1.43 billion.