An impressive showing from Microsoft Corp.'s "Halo 3" re-energized the Xbox 360 and pushed U.S. video-game retail sales up 74 percent in September, according to data from market researcher NPD Group.
"Halo 3," the final installment of the hugely popular first-person shooter trilogy for Microsoft Xbox 360, made its debut Sept. 25 and sold 3.3 million units during the month, including collector's editions.
"True to its name, the game rubbed off on hardware sales too - the Xbox 360 realized its best month ever in unit hardware sales outside last holiday season," said Anita Frazier, video game analyst for the NPD Group, in an e-mail. "If ever there was doubt that great content drives hardware acquisition, this should put that doubt to rest."
Video game retail sales reached $1.36 billion in September, up from $778.7 million a year earlier.
Hardware sales, including consoles and handheld systems, more than doubled to $544.9 million. People bought nearly 1.4 million consoles in September, up from just 613,500 a year earlier.
The Xbox 360 was the month's top-selling console, selling 527,800 units, up 91 percent from the 276,700 sold in August.
Source: AP - Forbes