According to new data from NPD Group, a retail sales tracking firm, the video game market continued its record-breaking year in the U.S., as the video game sales were up 10% in November, to $2.91 billion, while year-to-date sales are up 22%, to $16.04 billion compared with $13.14 billion at the same point a year ago.

Microsoft alone claims it generated $408 million in software sales during November. But even though NPD showed that the month's top two titles, “Gears of War 2” and “Call of Duty 5,” were Xbox 360 titles, this is the same attach rate the company reported last month.

In its most recent quarter, Microsoft reported that Xbox 360 shipments increased 22% year over-year to 2.2 million units. The jump comes as Microsoft takes steps to reinvigorate the Xbox platform and position it as more than just a gaming device.
Besides "Gears of War 2", which was the top seller with 1.56 million units, a game published by Microsoft Games Studios that is exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console along with "Call of Duty: World At War" from Activision Blizzard Inc. that came in at No. 2, with 1.41 million units sold, November's top 10 best-selling games also included four titles from Nintendo Co. Ltd. Three of the top-sellers were for various Wii motion-controlled game consoles.

Games for the Wii took half of the spots in the top ten, including Nintendo's own "Wii Play," "Wii Fit," "Mario Kart" and "Wii Music." Nintendo says both figures are all-time monthly highs for any month that isn't December.

"Certainly, the expanded audience for gaming due to the availability of a wider variety of compelling content is a strong contributor. Economic factors are also at play given that a video game is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment for the hours of value it provides. Our Consumer Spending Indicator shows that video games are the category consumers are least likely to cut back on this holiday," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

In the meantime Nintendo managed to sell an astonishing 2.04 million Wii units in November, up from 981,000 last year. Nintendo’s DS handheld sold an equally impressive 1.57 million units, followed by the Xbox 360 which more than doubled PlayStation 3 sales at 836,000 units compared to 378,000, despite both systems seeing monster titles release this past month.
In a nutshell Nintendo’s Wii continues to dominate the market, more than doubling sales from 981,000 to 2.04 million, despite the fact that Microsoft in September slashed the price of its Xbox 360 video-game console by almost 30% for some models.

As far as Sony’s PS3 is concerned, the most expensive console on the market, $150 - $200 more than its rivals, it’s high time its manufacturing company had some prices cut unless they want to lose the race.