The US results are in and Halo 3 has singlehandedly lead the charge on what can only be described as an unbelievably phenomenal month in September.

The figures compiled by US analysts, the NPD Group, make very impressive reading, especially if you happen to be a Microsoft or Bungie employee. But first things first and the month of September recorded total US games market sales of $1.36 billion. That’s about £13.58 at current exchange rates – probably – but it’s also a mighty 74% increase on the previous month. Jeepers!

According to NPD analysts it’s mostly down to the enormo-success of Halo 3 too. Indeed, the three variants of the game – the Standard, Limited and Legendary editions – racked up 3.3 million copies shifted between them. This not only gave Microsoft the most popular game by a yawning chasm of a margin but gave it the best-selling console too. Yup, thanks to the platform-shifting prowess of Halo 3 the Xbox 360 saw off stiff competition from the Wii and DS, selling 527,800 units versus 501,000 and 495,800 respectively. Meanwhile the wheels fell off the PS3 bandwagon, which sold only a relatively paltry 119,400 boxes in comparison. Oh dear.

All things taken into account this awesome month has contributed much to an already record-breaking year in the US. Total sales now stand at $9.37 billion which is currently ahead 47% on last year. No doubt it’ll all crash horribly in the not too distant future and conkers’ll come back into fashion. In the meantime take a butcher’s at the US software sales totals for September, which vividly illustrate that yawning chasm we were talking about earlier…:

1. Halo 3 (all 3 editions) – 3.3 million
2. Wii Play (Wii) – 282K
3. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) – 224K
4. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) – 205K
5. Skate (Xbox 360) – 175K
6. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) – 173K
7. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) – 167K
8. Bioshock (Xbox 360) – 150K
9. Brain Age 2 (DS) – 141K
10. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – 139K