NPD has released September sales figures for the US, showing Xbox 360 tops for the third month in a row, and Halo: Reach conquering the software chart.

Down, down, down to tightening the belt town

Total sales of hardware and software were down 8 percent year-over-year,  coming in at $1.22 billion compared to $1.32 billion in September 2009, while hardware sales were down 19 percent yoy to $383 million compared to $427 million.

“While industry sales of new physical retail sales show a decline versus year ago, it’s important to remember that there is a growing volume of content being sold digitally, or otherwise outside the traditional retail channel,” said NPD’s Anita Frazier.

“These numbers reflect the largest channel for hardware, software and accessories sales, but there are content sales happening elsewhere.”

Since NPD stopped publishing the hardware numbers this month to the public, it’s now up to the manufacturers or those who pay for the information to release it. However, on the software front, NPD plans to release a report on total video game consumer spending for the first half of 2010 tomorrow.

Xbox 360 sales up 37 percent yoy

Microsoft was first out of the gate with the numbers, and said Xbox 360 was top of the hardware charts for the four consecutive month, moving483,989 units, which is up 37 percent from last September.  Pre-orders of Kinect for Xbox 360 are selling out at retailers nationwide ahead of its US release on November 4.

“Hardware unit sales, with the exception of the Xbox 360, are down versus last September, but a couple other platforms, specifically the PS3 and the PSP are up on an average sales per week basis as compared to August,” said Frazier, adding that the average retail price of  hardware was up September, due to the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach bundle and the PS3 Move bundle.

According to NPD, Wii and PS3 were both down yoy, with Nintendo moving 403K DS units and Wii moving254K. According to NPR, Sony would not disclose its figures for the month, but going by NPD, the console likely sold less than 400K units in September.

Meanwhile, the YTD hardware is listed below. Obviously, it’s not 100 percent, what with Sony staying mum at the moment and the Nintendo figures being rounded and all.

As it stands by the chart we have, Xbox 360 is only behind Wii by 57,211 units for the year.

US hardware year-to-date:

1. DS – 4,214,800 (approx.)
2. Wii – 3,237,100 (approx.)
3. Xbox 360 – 3,179,889
4. PS3 – 2,031,500
5. PSP – 762,700

Last month’s figures can be found here.

Software takes a tumble

On the software front, Halo: Reach sold 3.3 million units in its launch month, making it only the third game this generation to surpass 3 million unit sales in the first month. The first game to surpass 3 million units this generation was  Halo 3.

However, while it may have topped the NPD software charts, the grand figure wasn’t enough to lift the industry out of its six-month depression.

Software sales hit $614 million, which is down 6 percent from $649 million yoy.  For the month, sales figures including PC sales, came in at $655 million which is down 5 percent over last month’s $692 million.

Madden NFL came in a respectable second place, followed by Dead Rising 2 and NHL 11.

The Top 10 titles are below, and we’ll get you  the exact units sold as soon as available.

1. Halo: Reach – Xbox 360
2. Madden NFL 11
3. Dead Rising 2
4. NHL 11
5. FIFA Soccer 11
6. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep -  PSP
7. Mafia II
8. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
9. Metroid: Other M – Wii
10. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Accessories were up 13 percent yoy to $180 million, compared to $159 million last year.