US videogame software and hardware sales for September 2008 saw a 7% decline from last year during the same period. It must be pointed out, however, that this time last year saw the release of Halo 3 which had a significant affect on the overall hardware and software sales for that period, resulting in a 75% rise from September 2006. So, putting it into perspective, a 7% decline isn’t bad at all. The US videogame industry, minus PC sales, is on track to realise $22 billion in revenue for the year.

There was no one dominant piece of software this month as a replacement for Halo 3’s 35% share of September sales last year, as all of the titles released this September were more evenly spread out in terms of numbers. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, released during this period, did particularly well with 610 000 units sold on the Xbox 360, 325 000 units on the PS3 and 223 000 units on the Wii, while Wii Fit managed a still very healthy 518 000 units. Rock Band 2 (on 360) and Mario Kart Wii sold over 300 000 copies, Mercenaries 2 (on 360), Wii Play and Madden NFL 09 (on 360) all sold over 200 000 units while Madden NFL 09 (on PS2) sold over 150 000 units.

It’s also interesting to note that, while PC sales aren’t included in the top ten sales numbers above, the NPD numbers did reveal that Spore saw sales of 406 000 units and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning sold 247 000 units, which would have easily placed both of them in the top ten.

Hardware sales were apparently flat as compared to the same period last year, so the decline in revenue can also be attributed to the lower prices customers are paying this year for the same hardware - the average retail price of hardware dropped by 8% from last September. The Xbox 360 in particular has seen a month-over-month sales increase of 78%. Nintendo’s consoles once again control the top of the US hardware sales, while the Xbox 360 speeds ahead of the PSP, PS3 and PS2. Full software and hardware listing below:

Hardware Sales for September 2008

• Wii 687 000
• NDS 536 800
• X360 347 200
• PSP 238 100
• PS3 232 400
• PS2 173 500

Top Ten Software Sales for September 2008

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts, Xbox 360) 1 610 000
• Wii Fit with Balance Board (Nintendo, Wii) 518 000
• Rock Band 2 (MTV Games, Xbox 360) 363 000
• Mario Kart Wii with Wheel (Nintendo, Wii) 353 000
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts, PS3 ) 325 000
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (EA, Xbox) 360 297 000
• Wii Play with Remote (Nintendo, Wii) 243 000
• Madden NFL 09 (EA, Xbox 360 ) 224 000
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts, Wii) 223 000
• Madden NFL 09 (EA, PS2) 158 000

Source: NPD