April 2017 NPD: Nintendo and Persona dominate gaming with big sales

Nintendo Switch and Mario Kart powered the gaming industry in the United States to another upswing in spending last month.

U.S. consumers spent $636 million on video games and related hardware and products in April, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s up 10 percent year-over-year from $577 million. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild both powered Nintendo to huge sales, but Persona 5 also contributed heavily to April’s positive results.