Sony's PS3 continued to outpace Microsoft's Xbox 360 in October hardware sales according to US NPD Group data, though Microsoft cleaned up in top 10 software sales, claiming five slots and 44 percent of units total. The Wii took top honors overall, but plummeted in year-over-year comparisons, falling from 803k units in October 2008 to 507k units last month.

In a surprise tumble, October video game retail software sales fell to $573m, an 18 percent decline from last year's record $698m. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter had earlier this week forecast October console software sales would be $620 million, up 20 percent compared to last year's $515 million.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier put a positive spin on the data, noting October was "the third best October on record, behind October 2007 and October 2008."

"Based on typical industry seasonality, the industry is on track to generate full-year revenues in the range of $20-$21B in the U.S.," she said, a range that would fall only slightly below last year's record sales of $21.3 billion.

On the other hand, she noted economic tracking indices suggest consumers don't feel so hot about their personal finances, which could result in decreased spending over the holidays.

While gamers preferred the Wii and PS3 over the Xbox 360 in hardware unit sales, Microsoft's console contributed most to overall industry numbers (hardware, software, peripherals), accounting for 27 percent of total for the month. The PS3 was a close second, with 26 percent, an 8 point improvement over last October.

Hardware

507k - Wii458k - Nintendo DS321k - PlayStation 3250k - Xbox 360175k - PSP118k - PlayStation 2

Sony's PlayStation was the only system to realize a year-over-year sales increase, jumping 18 percent from 190k in October 2008 to 321k last month. The Xbox 360 and Wii decreased most, dropping 33 percent and 37 percent respectively.

"Hardware sales were down 17% in units for the month," said Frazier. "Compared to last month, which was a five-week month as compared to four weeks this month, Wii, PSP and NDS sales increased on an average sales per week basis, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 declined."

The Nintendo DS continues to sell strongly (it's approaching an all-time single-year US hardware sales record for the year) and Frazier says that while overall handheld unit sales are down, "dollar sales are up thanks to an increase in the average selling price of portable hardware generated by the higher price points of the new portable systems and bundles."

Year-to-date sales look worst for hardware, with unit sales off 10 points contrasted with the same period last year. Frazier notes that while the recent price cuts helped, they're not sustaining sales momentum, and that it'll be difficult to gauge the impact of those drops on holiday sales, as "those are always the two best months for the industry anyway, and we'd expect to see a sizeable lift in hardware unit sales as a result of seasonality."

Software

537k - Uncharted 2 / PlayStation 3441k - Wii Fit Plus / Wii418k - Borderlands / Xbox 360314k - Wii Sports Resort / Wii311k - NBA 2K10 / Xbox 360271k - Halo 3 ODST / Xbox 360213k - NBA 2K10 / PlayStation 3175k - Forza Motorsport 3 / Xbox 360169k - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days156k - FIFA Soccer 10 / Xbox 360

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