NPD: US January games market down 5%

US sales tracker NPD has released its numbers for the US video games market in January 2011, and they show another period of year-on-year decline.

Overall sales hit $1.16bn – a five per cent drop on January 2010. Software sales were down five per cent at $576m while hardware fell eight per cent to $324m.

Accessories, however, climbed six per cent to $235.1m thanks to the popularity of Kinect and Move.

In the software market, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops remained the best seller. This was followed by Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2 and EA’s Dead Space 2. There was also an impressive performance from Majesco’s Zumba Fitness: Join the Party, which claimed fifth place.

MTV’s Dance Central, in eighth position, became the first Kinect-only game to feature in an NPD Top Ten list.

Here is NPD’s January Top Ten in full:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
2. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)
3. Dead Space 2 (EA)
4. Little Big Planet 2 (Sony)
5. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Majesco)
6. NBA 2K11 (Take-Two)
7. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
8. Dance Central (MTV Games)
9. Michael Jackson: The Experience (Ubisoft)
10. DC Universe Online (Sony)