The NPD Group has released its monthly report on sales in the physical retail sector of the video game industry for August, and due to dramatic figures on both sides of the scale, the industry as a whole remained essentially flat as far as its overall year-over-year income comparisons are concerned.

Overall hardware sales were down 40 percent as compared with August of 2012, with the entire segment bringing in just $90.8 million. Nintendo's 3DS appreciated its fourth month in a row as the best-selling piece of hardware in the US, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 enjoyed yet another podium finish as the best-selling home console, selling 96,000 units.

Meanwhile, year-over-year software sales were up by 23 percent: $293.4 million this August as compared to $237.9 million last year. Eight out of August's top 10 best-selling games were launched during the month, with the entire list achieving "more than double the sales" of the top 10 games of August 2012, according to NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan.

The list, available in full after the break, is topped by Madden 25, Saints Row 4 and Disney Infinity, the last of which also played a major role in the Accessories segment's $136.7 million of income - a seven-percent increase over last year. "Combined with sales of Skylanders accessories, one in every three accessory sold this month was an Interactive Gaming Toy," says Callahan.