Video game sales jumped 39% in October but came in below several optimistic expectations as sales of the popular "Halo 3" slowed considerably following its much-hyped launch.
The slower "Halo 3" sales were also a likely factor in helping the Nintendo Wii reclaim the top spot among gaming consoles after being knocked off briefly by Microsoft's Xbox 360.
The Wii sold about 519,000 units during the month - the most of any gaming console, according to data released from the NPD group late Thursday.
That blew away the 366,000 in unit sales from the Xbox 360, which saw an upsurge in September thanks to the launch of "Halo 3," the most anticipated new game of the year that was designed exclusively for the 360 console. The 360 had sold nearly 528,000 units in September.
"Halo 3" was released during the last week of September but still managed to rack up 3.3 million in unit sales for the month. In October, the game totaled just 433,800 units.
Total video game software sales for the month came to $513.9 million, up 39% from the same period last year. Analysts were expecting sales to come in between $550 million and $600 million for the month.
New 'Guitar Hero' rocks sales
The star game title for October turned out to be another sequel, of sorts. " Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" hit store shelves on Oct. 28 but still managed to sell more than 1.17 million units in versions designed for all three next- generation gaming consoles as well as the older PlayStation 2 from Sony Corp.
The "Guitar Hero" series is published by Activision (ATVI) . "Halo 3" was published by Microsoft (MSFT) .
Nintendo also had a strong performance on the game side. The company's "Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass" sold more than 262,000 units for its handheld DS platform, followed by its "Wii Play w/ Remote" game, which sold more than 239, 000 units.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) saw its "Half Life 2" title move 238,400 units for the month while its "FIFA Soccer 08" title sold 129,700 units.
PlayStation 3 gets slight lift
While Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 3 still ranked at the bottom for next- generation consoles, the device saw sales pick up slightly to 121,000 units for the month compared to 119,400 units the month before.
Sony has cut the price on the console significantly, but those price cuts did not take affect until this month, so the impact to sales will not be clear until December.
The PlayStation 2 sold 184,000 units for the month, likely helped by the latest "Guitar Hero" installment.
On the handheld side, Sony's PSP moved 286,000 units while the Nintendo DS sold about 458,000 units.
