Video game sales soar to $1.1 billion in October

Nintendo Co. Ltd's Wii console regained its spot as the top selling console according to monthly figures released by The NPD Group on Thursday. Overall, the sales of video game hardware and software in the U.S. rose 73 percent in October.

According to the data released, total sales stood at $1.1 billion, compared to $643 million a year earlier. The sale of Nintendo’s Wii stood at 519,000 while Microsoft Corp sold 366,000 Xbox 360 consoles and Sony Corp sold 121,000 of its PlayStation 3 machines.

Reggie Fils-Aime, America President of Nintendo said, “What this demonstrates is that we are putting more and more product into the marketplace and we continue to sell out as soon as it hits."

Microsoft's Xbox 360 had usurped the top sales spot from the Wii in September fueled by the release of its blockbuster 'Halo 3' game.

Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan said, "Demand actually continues to increase and people just can't seem to get enough of it."

With the holiday shopping season around the corner all major console makers and game publishers are gearing up to meet demands. The season may account for as much as half of the year's sales of gaming hardware and software.

While Nintendo is jostling to produce enough units to meet demand, Microsoft has exhibited its broad line up of games and is displaying data to show that more money is spent on games and accessories for the Xbox 360 than its rivals combined.

Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox Live said, "Software continues to be a real highlight for us. We had more software sales in the month of October than the Wii and PS3 combined." He added that the Xbox Arcade model ($280) aimed at casual gamers and families had seen strong sales.

Meanwhile, Sony has cut prices of the PS3 and is rolling out a slate of highly anticipated games that showcase its graphical muscle to spark interest in gamers. On Wednesday, Sony chairman and chief executive Howard Stringer said that an Oct. 29 price reduction of $100 of the 80 gigabyte PS3 (to $499) and a new $399 40GB model had boosted sales. In a statement Sony said that it "expects a great deal of momentum moving forward this holiday and beyond."

NPD analyst Anita Frazier said, "Remember that the PS3 price cut came in November so we'll have to wait until our data comes out next month to see the effect of that cut on retail sell-through of the hardware."

Microsoft's 'Halo 3' remained the top-selling video game in October with 433,800 copies sold, bringing the total to 3.7 million. Activision Inc's "Guitar Hero 3" took the next three spots with the Xbox 360 version selling the most (383,200), followed by the Wii version (286,300) and Sony PlayStation 3 version (271,100). In all it has sold 1.4 million copies in just six days.

"'Guitar Hero' has certainly established itself among the elite video games properties," Frazier said. "Since it has broad appeal, it's also the type of game that should continue to do very well throughout the holidays."