Even Nintendo’s perennially popular offerings were not enough to challenge Halo 3: ODST’s dominance in the North American September software battle, with Microsoft’s shooter drastically out performing all of its rivals.

NPD reports that Bungie’s Master Chief-free FPS shifted 1.5m units in the period, way ahead of its closest rival Wii Sports Resort which itself sold 443k units.

It was also a good month for Madden NFL 10, with the Xbox 360 SKU landing third place in the listings (290k) and the PS3 outing sixth place (247k).

“Halo 3 certainly impacted the industry two years ago when it was launched, and this year, Halo 3: ODST realized impressive sales making it the 6th best-selling SKU launch of all time,” NPD’s Anita Frazier noted.

“Five of the top ten software items for the month were on the Xbox 360 platform.

“Madden NFL 10 made up some ground this month. Although when launched in August the game sold 19 per cent fewer units than its predecessor a year prior, with a second month of sales in, that deficit has been reduced to 13 per cent, which bodes very well for the title through the holiday season.”