Despite the fact that the video gaming industry as a whole experienced a decline, Xbox 360 had a stellar year, and Nintendo topped the charts for most gaming hardware sales for 2010.  PlayStation 3 comes in third place, which was not the plan with the release of the popular PS3 Move motion controller.

Microsoft has credited their impressive 42% growth for 2010 to their highly successful launch of the Kinect add-on to the Xbox 360 which delivers a revolutionary interactive motion gaming experience that is controller free.  The device sold 8 million units in its first 60 days on the market, helping Microsoft exceed their year end goals by millions. The Xbox 360 and Kinect exceeded their goals by enough to have experienced shortages at year end, as well as in the first few months of 2011.

Despite all the hype surrounding Microsoft’s biggest year ever, it was Nintendo who was able to top the charts with the most unit sales for the year, with Nintendo’s DS systems moving more than 8.5 million units, and the Wii console chiming in with 7 million units sold.  December sealed a nice end of year big finish with the sale of 2.5 million DS units and 2.3 million Wii consoles.

While the Xbox 360 and Nintendo figures were not enough to save the industry as a whole, they did leave hope on the horizon for a breath of fresh air stirring through the industry.  Microsoft has declared 2011 to be the year of the Kinect, while Nintendo will be launching their 3DS this Spring.  Yes, video gaming enthusiasts are in for one wild ride this year, and we can’t wait to get in on the action ourselves.

Not sure which gaming system you are interested in?  You can compare the three mainstream systems in this valuable Console Buying Guide.

Source:  Cnet