SlashGear

NPD Group’s retail data released last night discloses that December was the video game industry’s “biggest sales month ever”, besting last December by 4%.  While it wasn’t enough to match up with 2008′s combined record-smashing revenues, December’s sales rally saved 2009 from an even dismal finish, leaving aggregate industry revenue 8 points down, or $19.7 billion compared to last year’s $21.4 billion.

“”January and February were both up, and since the decline that began in March, only September experienced growth,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said, though ending on an upbeat note: “The big sales [in December], particularly on the hardware front, [are] a positive move for the industry headed into what will hopefully be a recovery year in 2010.””  We certainly hope so too.

Hardware (units)

3.81m – Wii
3.31m – Nintendo DS
1.36m – PlayStation 3
1.31m – Xbox 360
655k – PSP
333k – PlayStation 2

Software (units)

2.82m – New Super Mario Bros [Wii]
2.41m – Wii Fit Plus [Wii]
1.79m – Wii Sports Resort [Wii]
1.63m – Modern Warfare 2 [Xbox 360]
1.12m – Modern Warfare 2 [PS3]
1.01m – Wii Play w/remote [Wii]
936k – Mario Kart w/wheel [Wii]
783k – Assassin’s Creed 2 [Xbox 360]
729k – Left 4 Dead 2 [Xbox 360]
657k – Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story [DS]