Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales rose 18% in October, to $1.31 billion, led by sales of Nintendo's Wii console and Microsoft's "Fable II" title, according to sales data compiled by market research firm NPD Group. Overall, hardware sales were up 5% to $494.7 million; the Wii sold 803,000 units, compared to 371,000 Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) Xbox 360s and 190,000 Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3s.

Handheld game device sales, however, were down 14% from the same period a year ago, as the Nintendo DS sold 491,000 units and the Sony PSP 193,000 units.

"The console portion of the market made significant gains at 26% across hardware, software and accessories, while the portable side of the market stalled, declining 14%. Year-to-date the portable segment of the market is still up 7%," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Behind "Fable II," which sold 790,000 units, other top-selling game software titles included Nintendo's "Wii Fit" (487,000 units), "Wii Mario Kart" (290,000) and "Wii Play" (282,000), and Bethesda Softworks' "Fallout 3" (375,000).

Related Links:
http://www.npd.com