Deus Ex: Human Revolution has been declared the victor in an otherwise depressing month for US video game sales. As detailed in retail analyst NPD's August report, Square Enix's role-playing shooter was the best selling title in a month that otherwise saw a year-on-year decrease of 23% in total retail sales.

Contributing to last month's dip was a 34% year-on-year decline in software revenues brought on by the delay of EA's Madden NFL 12 to August 30; a day or two shy of NPD's reporting range. Other factors include a 12% loss in hardware sales and a less damaging 1% decrease in accessories sales.

Reversely, August was good month for Square Enix and Eidos as Deus Ex: Human Revolution topped the top ten list despite only spending five days within NPD's August survey period. The full list is as follows:

1 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

2 - NCAA Football 12 (PS3, Xbox 360)

3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3, Xbox 360, DS, Wii, PC)

4 - Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd (PS3, Wii, DS)

5 - Cars 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC)

6 - Just Dance Summer Party (Wii)

7 - Just Dance 2 (Wii)

8 - Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, 3DS, PC)

9 - The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)

10 - Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)

Alright, so the competition wasn't exactly stellar - but still...five days! On the console end, Xbox 360 continued its winning streak with 308,000 in sales, while the Nintendo 3DS made a comeback to finish second at 235,000 units sold. The PS3 was third with 218,000, followed by the Wii at 190,000, and the Nintendo DS at 165,000.

Though the big picture numbers aren't pretty, NPD rep Anita Frazier was quick to point out it's only uphill from here for the remainder of 2011, explaining:

"Even though year to date performance of the new physical portion of the industry is down 5 percent, more than half of industry sales in this channel are still to be realized in the back four months of the year...Given the strong release schedule in the coming months, new physical retail sales could still be flat to slightly up once full year sales are tallied."

Oh, like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Saints Row: The Third, Rage, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Batman: Arkham City, FIFA 12, Just Dance 3, Battlefield 2, NBA 2K12, Dark Souls and Star Wars: The Old Republic (to name a few)? Yeah, those should move the needle just a tad.

Sep 9, 2011