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NPD has released the eagerly anticipated sales figures for US video game sales, and the PS4 has come out on top. The Xbox One didn't perform too badly either, earning the accolade of being the faster selling console.

While the NPD group's monthly report did not provide an exact figure for PS4 sales, they confirmed that Sony's next-gen console was in fact the best seller in November, beating all other devices, including Nintendo's 3DS portable gaming device.

As the PS4 was released a week earlier than the Xbox One, this will have favored Sony's console, although as Sony reported, most of the sales came during the first day. Microsoft were eager to point out that their console was the fastest selling on an average weekly basis, shipping 101,000 consoles per day, but sales typically taper off dramatically during the second week. 909,132 of the more expensive Xbox Ones were sold in November.

While both Microsoft and Sony will trumpet their perceived victories during the crucial November sales period, which includes the Black Friday sales, there were also losers during November too. The release of the next-gen consoles has had an effect on the previous generation machines, with Xbox 360 sales reportedly down nearly 49% compared to a year ago. Sony did not release figures for PS3 sales.

The biggest loser may be Nintendo's Wii U, technically classed as a next-gen console, but having been released a year earlier. 220,000 Wii Us were sold in November, which represented a 340% increased on the previous month, but was still far short of even previous generation consoles (the Xbox 360 shipped 647,000 units). 

Game sales were surprisingly limp as well, despite next-gen games, particularly PS4 games, selling much better than expected. Sales were down 24% compared to last year, with previous generation consoles suffering the most. The release of a new Mario game on the Wii U was also less than enthusiastically embraced by gamers, and largely due to the limited number of Wii U consoles that have been sold so far. Only 215,000 copies of Super Mario World 3D was sold worldwide in a month dominated by Call of Duty 4 and Battlefield 4.

Despite the low software sales, strong next-gen hardware sales still managed to save the month, with industry revenue up 7% compared a year ago.