NPD: Hardware sales up, Borderlands 2 beats 1's sales by 234%

According to the latest report from NPD, sales of the DS, 3DS, PS3, Vita and Xbox 360 are up on an "average sales per week" basis compared with August, suggesting momentum heading into the holiday season. The Wii U "has the potential to reinvigorate retail sales of hardware" when it drops on November 18 in the US, NPD analyst Liam Callahan says.

Madden NFL 13 was the top-selling game in September, with an 11 percent increase in its debut month than Madden NFL 12 saw last year. Borderlands 2 takes second, exceeding 2009's Borderlands first-month sales by 234 percent. September software sales at retail are down 13 percent year-over-year; September 2011 saw major games such as Gears of War 3 and Dead Island. September sales are up 67 percent from August's light haul. PC sales are up 12 percent year-on-year.

Nintendo 3DS software is up 89 percent year-over-year, spurred by 3DS XL hardware sales and Super Mario Bros. 2, which sold 295,000 units in its second month. However, combined 3DS and DS software sales are down 18 percent. As Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says, "That's not a good trend."

For Microsoft, Xbox 360 sold 270,000 units in September and remains the top-selling current-generation console, with 49 percent of the market, Major Nelson tweets.

EA has five of the top 10 games for September, all of which are listed in order below:

1. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)

2. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)

3. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, PSV, Wii, 3DS, PSP)

4. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)

5. Guild Wars 2 (PC)

6. NHL 13 (360, PS3)

7. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC)

8. NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)

9. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)

10. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)