NPD: 360 enjoys best ever month in US

The Xbox 360 enjoyed its best ever US sales month in December, according to sales data released by The NPD Group.

Although the DS was the highest selling system of the month, the 360 recorded its best ever figures, shifting 1.9 million units, and was the only console to see a year-on-year sales increase. Impressive figures, considering it ran out of stock before the end of the month.

NPD didn't release information on how the other platforms fared but confirmed that across the board, hardware sales were down six per cent on 2009.

Call of Duty: Black Ops took the Christmas software honours, with Just Dance 2 coming in second behind the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion - although Blizzard's title will no doubt have shifted many more units through downloads.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Donkey Kong Country Returns held up well at four and five, while Wii exclusive Epic Mickey made a strong start at six.

Here's how the full top 10 panned out:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. Just Dance 2
3. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
4. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
5. Donkey Kong Country Returns
6. Epic Mickey
7. Madden NFL 11
8. Michael Jackson: The Experience
9. NBA 2K11
10. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

PlayStation 3 exclusive Gran Turismo 5 was nowhere to be seen after debuting at number eight last month.

If the chart was based on individual platform sales, rather than cross-platform totals, Just Dance 2 came out on top, while Kinect Sports, UDraw Studio and Dance Central would all have made the top 10.

NPD also revealed the US top 10 for the entire year, with Black Ops coming out on top, just as it did in the UK. Here's how the chasing pack measured up:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. Madden NFL 11
3. Halo Reach
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
5. Red Dead Redemption
6. Wii Fit Plus
7. Just Dance 2
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
9. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
10. NBA 2K11