Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo Co.’s Wii console for the first time following a $100 price cut, helping the U.S. video-game market end six consecutive months of declining revenue.

Hardware, software and accessory sales in the world’s largest video-game market rose 1 percent to $1.28 billion last month, researcher NPD Group Inc. said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Sales of Tokyo-based Sony’s PS3 more than doubled to 491,800, while those of the Wii fell 33 percent to 462,800. Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 sales gained 1.6 percent to 352,600.

Sony’s reduction of the PS3 price on Aug. 19 helped reverse an industry slump that had been exacerbated by the absence of new hit games. Industry revenue is down 13 percent through September, NPD said. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft lowered the price of its most powerful console, the Xbox 360 Elite, by $100 to $300 on Aug. 27. Kyoto-based Nintendo followed a month later with a 20 percent price cut for the Wii.

“For some time, people held off on buying because they were expecting a PS3 price cut,” said Atul Bagga, an industry analyst with ThinkEquity LLC in San Francisco. Nintendo’s Wii price cut came late in September so “they aren’t seeing the full effect. October should be better for Nintendo,” he said.

Sony rose 1.3 percent to 2,695 yen at 9:17 a.m. in Tokyo trading, while Nintendo declined 0.3 percent to 23,960 yen in Osaka. Microsoft fell 0.5 percent to $26.36 on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday.

Hardware Sales

With Nintendo’s slide, hardware sales fell 6 percent to $472.3 million, Port Washington, New York-based NPD said. September was the first month Sony outsold its rivals in the U.S. since the PS3 was introduced in November 2006. The system has a built-in Blu-ray player and wireless Internet connection.

“We’ve felt that we have a system that would stand the test of time,” Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America said in an interview yesterday. The sales pace is continuing in October, he said.

Video-game software sales totaled $649.3 million, up 5 percent from a year earlier. The top-selling games were Microsoft’s “Halo 3: ODST,” Nintendo’s “Wii Sports Resort” and Electronic Arts Inc.’s “Madden NFL 10.” “The Beatles: Rock Band” was the fifth best-selling game.

The increase in game sales was “disappointing,” said Bagga, who was expecting a gain of about 10 percent. Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter expected software sales to be up 21 percent.

Games that may be released for the holiday shopping season include Activision Blizzard Inc.’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” Electronic Arts’s “FIFA 10” and Sony’s “Uncharted 2.”

Sales of hardware, software and accessories for Microsoft Xbox 360 comprised 32 percent of industry revenue last month, NPD said. The Xbox 360 is the only console system to have an increase in sales this year.

Nintendo led in sales of handheld game systems, with 524,200 units compared with 190,400 PSPs sold by Sony.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 19, 2009 20:22 EDT