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September was the month things were supposed to turn around for the video game industry. Analysts were forecasting increases of up to 25 percent from the 2008 numbers – but the economy and the buying public gave them an ugly surprise.

Sales were up overall in September, but just barely. Game sales jumped 5 percent, thanks almost exclusively to “Halo 3: ODST”. But hardware sales were down 6 percent, even with price cuts by all three manufacturers.

Despite this, you won’t hear Sony complaining too loudly. For the first time since it hit the market in 2006, the PS3 beat the Wii and Xbox 360 in sales (though the Nintendo DS topped everyone for the sixth consecutive month).

PS3 sales more than doubled from August, while the Wii and 360 both saw increases of over a 60 percent.

While some people were skeptical that a Master Chief-less “Halo” title might not have the appeal of other series installments, the game managed to sell over 1.5 million copies, making it the sixth best-selling launch in the industry’s history.

(The full software sales figures are listed after the break.)

 “Madden” was the comeback kid, which was welcome news for EA.

“Although when launched in August the game sold 19 percent fewer units than its predecessor a year prior, with a second month of sales in, that deficit has been reduced to 13%, which bodes very well for the title through the holiday season,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

And, to the surprise of many, “The Beatles: Rock Band” managed to outsell “Guitar Hero 5” in September – though NPD notes that the success could be tied to the fact that the game has a retail price premium of 130 percent when compared to the average retail price for software overall.

Year to date, the industry is still 13 percent behind last year’s pace overall – with hardware sales down 16 percent. At this point, most industry observers believe the year-end numbers will be significantly below what the industry earned in 2008. 

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