U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories rose 1 percent to $1.08 billion in October, helped by sales of "Battlefield 3," market researcher NPD Group said Friday. Hardware sales, which include game consoles such as the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, rose 6 percent from October 2010 to $295.6 million.

Xbox 360 turned in the most successful October on record, maintaining its lead in the current-generation console market for 16 out of the last 17 months. Microsoft's console is holding 44 percent share of the overall current-generation console market.

Sales of software, or the video games themselves, rose 3 percent to $621.3 million.

When including PC games in addition to games for consoles and hand-held gaming devices, software sales rose 1 percent to $649.5 million.

Electronic Arts's "Battlefield 3" title was the month's best-selling game with just under 2 million units sold.

The year's biggest game, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" went on sale Nov. 8 so it's not counted in the current sales figures.