Unsurprisingly, Mass Effect 3 topped software sales in March, the latest sales figures from the NPD show. In fact, it was a great month for new games, with a number of new releases comprising the top 10. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City's number two performance shows that negative reviews could not deter fans of the franchise. The PlayStation-exclusive MLB: The Show dominated 2K Games' multiplatform effort, Major League Baseball 2K12. The success of Street Fighter X Tekken, Mario Party 9, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations shows the wide array of tastes sated by March's games. 3DS also found a winner in Kid Icarus Uprising, which "would have been among the top selling individual SKUs for the month of March" had NPD not combined sales data across multiple platforms.

Read more: The top ten sales charts »

February wasn't a particularly shocking month for the games industry. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is still the best-selling game; Xbox 360 is still the best-selling console (for the twelfth month in a row); and the top 10 is comprised of known franchises.

There are a few surprises, though. Kingdoms of Amalur makes a lone appearance as the only original IP in the top 10. Skylanders accessories generated more than $17 million in sales and "if added to the sales generated by the software, Skylanders easily claims the top spot for content-related sales,” according to NPD's Anita Frazier.

Read more: The top ten sales charts »