NPD: Xbox 360 Beats Out PS3, But Declines Comparatively

The PlayStation 3 has always been playing catch-up in the United States, but in the last two months, it has managed to outsell the Xbox 360. However, November saw the Xbox 360 consolidate its 2nd place position behind the Nintendo Wii, as it managed to sell more systems than the PlayStation 3 throughout the calendar month.

It was helped in-large by the hugely popular Modern Warfare 2, which managed to sell over 4 million units on the Xbox 360, while just under 2 million were sold on the PlayStation 3. However, while Microsoft have regained the lead over Sony, they should be worried that despite the huge boon from Modern Warfare 2, their year-on-year sales actually decreased by 2%.

Sales of the PlayStation 3 on the other hand almost doubled year-on-year, and in total sales throughout the year, the two are almost neck and neck. It's certainly setting the stage for an even more competitive 2010.