Sales video game consoles nearly doubled year-over-year to $187 million in May, and overall spending on hardware and software rose 52% to $586 million in the month. The PlayStation 4 from Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) once again led Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox One in monthly sales totals.

The report from Bloomberg was based on data gathered by research firm NPD Group and did not include specific sales numbers for either of the game consoles.

Microsoft has dropped the Kinect motion sensor from its Xbox One and lowered the price to $399 to match the price of Sony’s PS4. Both companies introduced a carload of new games at the recent E3 Show in Los Angeles, and Microsoft was particularly focused on games because the company’s initial marketing thrust for the Xbox One promoted the non-gaming features of the new console.

Sony overtook Nintendo as the top seller of game consoles for the Japanese fiscal year that ended in March. That is the first time in eight years that Nintendo has not held the top spot.

The focus on games at E3 underscores the importance of new, exclusive games and the experience the different consoles provide to players. Dropping the Kinect box gives the Xbox One a performance boost of about 10%, but that still lags the higher performance hardware of the PS4. That leaves exclusivity, and Microsoft’s experience with Titanfall would indicate that an exclusive game just isn’t enough of a differentiator.

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