Although October video game sales slid 4 percent, according to market research firm NPD, at least one company is happy with its performance on the month.

Microsoft announced late yesterday that for the fifth-consecutive month, its Xbox 360 led the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii in overall sales. The company said it sold 325,000 Xbox 360 units in October, representing a 30 percent year-over-year gain. So far this year, Microsoft has enjoyed 34 percent year-to-date growth.

It is worth noting, however, that Nintendo's DS had the highest hardware unit sales on the month, though neither NPD nor Nintendo revealed to reporters how many units were sold.

Microsoft also performed quite well in software. Although 2K Sports' NBA 2K11 led in overall game sales, Microsoft-published Fable III tallied 580,000 unit sales on the month, grabbing the second spot in October. Microsoft also said it sold 315,000 Halo: Reach units on the month.

Microsoft's sales figures were made available by the company itself. Last month, NPD announced that it would no longer share hardware or game unit sales each month, as it once did. The onus is now on hardware and software makers to reveal unit sales if they wish to do so.