MUMBAI: Four video-game franchise titles with music tie-ins touched a record mark for US video-game and computer game software, according to the NPD Group, a research company that provides point-of-sale (POS) information and industry expertise across industries.

These represent over five per cent of the total 297.6 million units sold in 2008, according to the research.

According to the report, unit sales were up 11 per cent from the previous year's record and represented $11.7 billion at retail, a 23 per cent year-over-year increase.

"Madden NFL 09" by Electronic Arts sold more than 5.25 million units, followed by Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto IV" with 5.22 million, Activision/Red Octane's "Guitar Hero World Tour" with 3.4 million and Harmonix/MTV/EA's "Rock Band 2" at 1.7 million. Also, U.S. retailers raked in $21.33 billion in sales of gaming hardware, software and accessories during the year (not including the PC market), up 19 per cent from 2007.

"Madden NFL 09" launched on 12 August 2008 with a 26-song soundtrack for its 20th anniversary edition. It featured collaborations by Busta Rhymes, Linkin Park and Young Dre, the Truth featuring Good Charlotte and earlier Madden hit makers Franz Ferdinand, Gym Class Heroes, All American Rejects, Shinedown, Senses Fail, Disturbed, the Offspring and Airbourne.

Rockstar's "Grand Theft Auto IV" featured a record 214 tracks on 16 stations playable from radios of cars within the game, with genres ranging from hip-hop and Latin to electronica and hard rock when it debuted in April on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A 16-track CD, "The Music of Grand Theft Auto IV," was included in the game's special editions, and all tracks were available as downloads on Amazon.com.

"Guitar Hero World Tour" was the first top-selling franchise title to feature playable drums and a microphone when it shipped in October for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, noted Activision head of publishing Dusty Welch. An avatar of Jimi Hendrix is showcased in the game, as is his "The Wind Cries Mary" and a live version of "Purple Haze." And Metallica's much-anticipated studio album "Death Magnetic" was available as downloadable content for "GHWT."The "Rock Band 2" soundtrack featured more than 80 songs on the game disc plus an additional 20 bonus tracks available for free download when it shipped in September.

Among exclusive tracks were AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock," Guns N' Roses' "Shackler's Revenge" from its Chinese Democracy album and Bob Dylan's first video-game track, "Tangled Up in Blue," from his 1975 album "Blood on the Tracks."