After a last minute delay last week, The NPD Group today released its video game sales data for the month of September. Following five consecutive months of decline, total industry sales were just barely up (1% increase) year-over-year to $1.28 billion. Software was up 5% to $649.32 million, while hardware was down 6% to $472.28 million. Accessories, driven by Wii MotionPlus and Wii Remote sales, were up 2% to $157.33 million.

In terms of hardware, PS3 was the top selling console with 491.8K units sold. Nintendo's Wii wasn't that far behind with 462.8K units, followed by Xbox 360 with 352.6K units. The top selling piece of hardware, however, remains the Nintendo DS with 524.2K units; the DS has topped hardware for six consecutive months. PSP and PS2 meanwhile sold 190.4K and 146K units, respectively. It's pretty clear that PS3 got a huge lift from the price drop.

In a nutshell, The Beatles is a name to be reckoned with, and price drops are a powerful tool to world domination.

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