After hearing so much about how this was going to be the weakest holiday season in terms of sales, we’d be happy at the fact that our resilient video game industry could remain constant through the hard times. Sorry to disappoint you all, but the industry didn’t do that. Instead, it bulldozed right over last year’s figures.

Industry sales went up 10% to $2.91 billion for the month in the United States alone. What contributed to that? Well, Gears of War 2, for one. But the big story for this Nintendo fan base is that Nintendo moved 1.57 million DS Lite systems and a staggering 2 million Wii consoles (outpacing last year’s 981,000 and this year’s Wedbush Morgan’s prediction of 1.4 million).

December’s results should be fun, but until then, last month’s numbers can be read after the break.

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On track to make in excess of $22 billion this year alone, the video game industry topped $1.3 billion during the month of October. A surge in Wii sales (over 800k) led the way, to which we can only say “Wiiiiiiii!”

On the software side, Wii Fit led the way for games on Nintendo platforms (second overall to Fable II), while Wii Music landed outside of the top ten with only 81,000 copies sold between its October 20th release and the end of the month. Full details past the break.

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With the September good and out of the way, Nintendo has already issued their response to the NPD figures from last month. You can read it all after the jump, but my first thought after reading it? Only four games in the overall Top 10 were for Nintendo platforms. None for DS! Ouch!

The good news is that with no 360-exclusive launch matching the magnitude of Halo 3 last September, the Wii enjoyed a 37% sales increase over last month. Imagine what sales might have been like had we gotten something a little more substantial than great Wario and Kirby games.

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September was all about unleashing the Force. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed had moved 1.5 million copies in the United States by September 23rd, and you can check out how it fared for the month on the 360, PS3, and Wii platforms after the break.

Overall sales were down compared to last September because, well, Star Wars just isn’t Halo 3 to gamers. Luckily for us Nintenfolk, the lack of a Halo 3 launch doesn’t change a thing. Wii Fit and the Nintendo DS sold well over half a million each in the United States alone, and nearly 700,000 of the Wii systems flew off US store shelves last month.

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It’s football season! That means: another year’s worth of Madden games. Madden NFL 09 accounted for 2.3 million games sold in the United States last month, of which 5% were on Nintendo’s Wii platform. You can check out the big number’s from the NPD Group’s August report after the break, but Wii Fit dropped to #4 overall for the month despite selling more copies than it did in July…all thanks to America’s love of football.

Wii and DS sales dipped for the month, not surprisingly, but not enough to disturb Nintendo’s 1-2 tandem. Read on for the rest of the numbers!

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As usual, Nintendo execs are patting themselves on the back for a job well done last month. According to their spin, the Wii accounted for nearly half of all console sales, while the DS accounted for nearly three-quarters of all handheld sales.

In addition, half of the games listed in the Top 10 were for Nintendo platforms. You can read Nintendo’s take on the data after the break.

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Uh oh! It’s that time of the month again… NPD reports! The Wii, having a knack for symmetry, sold 555k units in the United States last month after selling 666k in June. Guitar Hero On Tour’s sales of 309k units, meanwhile, pushed the DS Lite to #1 for the month yet again.

Last month’s leading game, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, has disappeared completely from the Top 10, clearing the way for NCAA Football 09 and Soulcalibur IV on 360 and PS3. Not surprisingly, Wii Fit, Wii Play, Mario Kart Wii, and Rock Band for Wii also made the list, with Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for the 360 rounding out the Top 10.

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So after Nintendo sent the first of my two E3 notice text messages by announcing Wii MotionPlus on Monday, I’m pretty sure our entire E3 team was anxiously waiting to receive the second text from Nintendo. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Kid Icarus or Pikmin, but rather a confirmation on what we’ve been expecting for some time.

The new figures from the NPD Group officially put the Wii ahead of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console in the United States, with over 10.9 million Wii consoles in US homes. You can read as Nintendo toots its own horn after the break.

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The Wii once again came just short of selling 700k units in the United States for June - a great problem to have. The DS saw a boost in hardware sales from the launch of Guitar Hero On Tour, resulting in sales of 422k for the game in June, and 783k for the dual-screened handheld.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots led the way in software sales, moving over three quarters of a million in June, but Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Mario Kart Wii all hung around yet again. It’s pretty amazing when a game like Wii Sports would be a close #2 to the launch of a game like Metal Gear Solid 4 if it were counted… You can read up on all the top figures from June 2008 after the break.

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