“The NPD Group will release sales data for October late Thursday afternoon. Analysts on average are expecting sales to decline about 11% from the same month last year, according to a tabulation of estimates by MarketWatch.”

This follows a slight bump upwards in September, but the numbers are somewhat deceptive. They’re a comparison to October of last year, which saw the release of little, unnoticed titles like Fallout 3, Fable 2, and Guitar Hero: World Tour. In comparison, we’re getting more, ah, unique games like Brutal Legend (buy it) and Borderlands (buy the console version). The release of that Modern Warfare 2 game should help, a little. I guess. People seem to like it, right?

Gaming sales are also seeing a boost after the major players cut prices on their consoles, especially Sony. With the Playstation 3 now in reach of mortal means, Sony’s unholy Court of DRM and Screams has shipped out more black monoliths than ever.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

The increase in sales is blamed on the Xbox 360, which has contributed greatly to economic progress with recent titles like Halo 3: ODST and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Likewise, when Sony finally cut the obscene Playstation 3 sticker down to something more within range of the masses who don’t suckle golden mead from the breasts of alabaster maidens, sales of their flagship system nearly doubled.

Nintendo’s own Wii system added relatively little to the recovery, mostly because every man, woman, and child on Earth already has one.

Read more here.