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It's NPD results time again, such as they are, with some data revealed for hardware and software retail sales in the US. Nintendo has unsurprisingly been one of the first to announce it own results, quite simply because they're impressive.

For the sixth consecutive month in the United States the 3DS is the top selling video game hardware system, accumulating sales of over 452,000 units; that's both the 3DS and 2DS models, though no detailed splits were provided. Overall hardware sales across the whole sector were down 8% on October 2012, however, and Nintendo didn't provide any figures — or even loose indications — on the performance of Wii U hardware. New bundles have been released during November, however, and the company will hope that these offerings and the $299.99 price will perform well over the Holiday season.

On the software side Nintendo has reiterated its mantra of "software sells hardware", and of course we need look no further than Pokémon X & Y — both titles combined shifted 1.7 million units in October in the US, with X coming out on top over Y. 3DS first-party software sales passed two million sales last month, the highest figure since December 2011's results that were driven by Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7.

Nintendo's messaging in its announcement is very much on plugging the libraries available and on the way to Wii U and 3DS; it's clear that releases such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Super Mario 3D World will be vital to their respective systems. With the PS4 and Xbox One also landing, the results for November and December will be fascinating to see.

This month is all about the 3DS, however, with its monthly numbers being the highest for any home console or handheld gaming system in 2013. The power of Pokémon strikes again.

[source venturebeat.com]