Nintendo’s Zelda works magic on video game sales
After declining four straight months, sales of new video game products at U.S. retail returned to growth in February. Sales of video game hardware, software and accessories rose 8% year over year to $956 million last month, the NPD Group reported late Thursday. The industry segment was helped by strong sales of the latest generation living-room consoles from Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE). Portable game players from Nintendo (NTDOY) also gave a boost. Game hardware sales rose 10% to $378 million. Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 saw sustained momentum in February. After 15 months on the market, Xbox One and PS4 have outsold their predecessors, the Xbox 360 and PS3, by close to 60% in terms of units, NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. Nintendo’s 3DS handheld device got a boost from the release of “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D,” an exclusive first-party title…