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     This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,

     located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.

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U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories dipped 4 percent to $1.13 billion in September, according to market researcher NPD Group.

The NPD Group said Thursday in its monthly report that sales of video game software rose 3 percent to $630 million in September, up from $612 million a year earlier.

The top game during the month was the latest installment of Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Madden" football game, "Madden NFL 12." Microsoft 's "Gears of War 3" and Deep Silver's "Dead Island" took the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively.

Sales of video game hardware, which includes hand-held game systems and gaming consoles like Microsoft's Xbox 360, fell 9 percent to $349 million from $383 million last September.

The Xbox 360 is holding 42 percent share of the overall current-generation console market, selling 438,000 units in September, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. for 2011.

According to Microsoft's internal data, sales of "Gears of War 3," which launched on September 20th, soared past three million copies worldwide in the first week, pushing the "Gears of War"franchise beyond $1 billion dollars in lifetime sales.

Sales of video game accessories sank 14 percent to $155 million from $181 million. When including PC game sales, overall U.S. sales declined 6 percent to $1.16 billion.