HALO RISING

Video game sales got off to a roaring start this fall and they’re expected to stay hot heading into the final weeks of the holiday season.

The NPD Group reported game console sales in September increased 124% to 1.37 million units compared to 613,000 units in September of 2006. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 led the way with sales of 527,800 units for the month on the strength of the game “Halo 3,” the hit Xbox exclusive (pictured) that produced $300 million in sales in less than two weeks.

“‘Halo 3’ posted phenomenal results for just 12 days of sales in the month of September,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “And, true to its name, the game rubbed off on hardware sales, too.”

The NPD Group says game sales could hit $18 billion in 2007, which would be a 33% jump from $13.5 billion in 2006.