Dance video games helped the industry get off to a better than expected start at retail this year, according to The NPD Group's monthly sales data.  Four dance-related games -- Just Dance 2, Zumba Fitness: Join the Party, Dance Central and Michael Jackson The Experience -- were among the top 10 selling games for January, NPD said. Call of Duty: Black Ops was the top-selling game.  The 10 top-selling games of 2010 (in order, publisher and platforms in parentheses):  1) Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, Nintendo DS)2) Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft, Wii)3) Dead Space 2 (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)4) Little Big Planet 2 (Sony, PS3)5) Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Majesco, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3)6) NBA 2K11 (Take 2 Interactive, Xbox 360, PS3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, PS2, PC)7) Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Ubisoft, Xbox 360, PS3)8) Dance Central (MTV Games, Xbox 360)9) Michael Jackson The Experience (Ubisoft, Wii, DS, PSP)10) DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You (Sony, PS3, PC)  Overall, total video game sales (console systems, games for portables, consoles and PCs, plus accessories) for January ($1.16 billion) were 5% below sales in January 2010 ($1.22 billion), according to NPD. That's better than expected, says EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. "We were expecting software sales to be down 8% to 10% and they came in at (down) 5%," he said.  "The big surprise was dance (games)," Divnich said. "Dance produced a significant amount of sales. Dance targets more of the mainstream crowd and it's not typical to see really see these mainstream titles perform this well outside the holiday window. Clearly consumers love the dance games."  Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced that its sales of Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Just Dance Kids, Michael Jackson The Experience, and Dance on Broadway totalled more than 10.5 million worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2010.  Also in the NPD monthly report: accessory sales rose 6% over January 2010 to $235.1 million, presumably in part because of interest in Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move motion control systems.  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
NPD: Dance video games a hit at retail in January - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness - USATODAY.com - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness