Traditionally, the second or third Thursday of each month sees the release of the monthly US game sales figures from the NPD Group. Unfortunately, tradition will be broken this month, with the industry-standard industry research firm announcing this afternoon that its September 2009 report has been pushed until next week.

　　"We have just released a communication to our clients, explaining that, due to last minute processing requirements, the NPD Video Games Retail Tracking information for September 2009 will now be released on Monday, October 19," the company said in a brief statement. The earnings release is slated to be released to the media at 3:30 p.m. PDT.

　　The delay means that, for a few more days, analysts' September predictions will remain just that--predictions. Last week, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter forecast the PlayStation 3 pulling ahead of its rivals during the month, thanks to the $300 PlayStation 3 Slim. EEDAR's Jesse Divnich projected a double-digit increase in domestic software sales after six months of double-digit decline. However, Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson cautioned any such sales spike might be short-lived.