US videogame sales up 73 per cent in October

US videogame hardware and software sales increased 73 per cent in October according to NPD sales data.

Total sales were USD 1.1 billion, compared with USD 643 million a year earlier.

Nintendo's Wii returned to lead hardware sales with 519,000 consoles sold, ahead of 366,000 Xbox 360 consoles and 121,000 PlayStation 3 consoles. The Xbox 360 temporarily knocked the Wii out of the top spot in September, thanks to the release of Halo 3.

Total videogame software sales were USD 513.9 million, up 39 per cent from the previous October.

Halo 3 led software sales for the month of October, despite a significant drop from the prior month, with 433,800 units sold.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, bundled with the guitar controller, held the second, third, and fourth spots on the chart. The Xbox 360 version was the most popular SKU, with 383,200 units sold, followed by 286,300 units of the Wii version and 271,100 units of the PS2 version.

The PS2 version, sans guitar controller, came in at number eight, with 231,700 units sold.

Other titles in the top ten were The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS, at number five with 262,800 units sold, Wii Play at number six with 239,700 units sold, and the Xbox 360 version of The Orange Box at number seven with 238,400 units sold.

Rounding out the top ten were the PS2 version of FIFA Soccer 08, with 129,700 units sold, and the DS game Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day, with 116,900 units sold.