November NPD: Xbox 360 & Kinect leads record month

Market researchers NPD Group has released their November sales stats for North America, and it turns out the Xbox 360 had a phenomenal month, claiming a formidable 50% of all current generation console retail sales.

According to Major Nelson, that's 1.37 million Xboxes sold - marking the console's sixth consecutive month at the top of the console sales chart.

"November sales represent the best November on record in terms of new physical retail sales. It bests November 2008 by roughly $30 million, and that time frame was at the height of the music/dance genre sales," says NPD's Anita Frazier. "Black Ops debuted as the best-selling game in its launch month (in history) with black ops selling 8.4 million units at retail in the U.S. With only one month of sales, it has become the 7th best-selling game of all time, life-to-date."

Apparently Black Ops accounted for a massive 25% of all video game sales sold during the month, with 8.4 million sold.

Elsewhere, the Kinect launch blew expectations out of the water, pushing 2.5 million units off shelves, and doubtless increasing console sales with bundled SKUs.

"The Xbox 360 was the best-selling console hardware system for the month, realising an incredible 68% increase over last November. The Xbox 360 Kinect was the best-selling accessory item in November. With one month of sales, it's the top-selling accessory item in terms of dollar sales on a year-to-date basis."

Below is the Top 10 bestselling games for November 2010: