"Simply put, Nintendo saved Christmas," proclaimed Divnich in a research note today.

"Nintendo Wii and DS software unit and dollar sales will account for over 50 percent of all games sold in December. Without these sales, the industry would have likely felt the full wrath of the recession."

Added Divnich: "We believe their simple-to-use design, cheaper and wider variety of software titles, and the 'hot effect' [already] in place on both systems all played a role in driving both the Wii and the DS to the top of their segments."

The full NPD sales lists for the month of December have not yet been released. EEDAR's expectations were released in a handy chart (above).