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The latest official market figures from the USA are being claimed as a major victory by Nintendo, which has seen the GameCube's market share for the month of October boosted by ten points and overtaking the Xbox'.

Figures from market research body NPD show the Cube selling over a quarter of a million units during October, which is 50 per cent higher than any other month in 2003 - and also higher than any sales month the Xbox has registered this year.

This allowed the platform to grab 35 per cent market share for the full month, while the PS2 dropped nine points and the Xbox dropped a single point. This left the Xbox with about 24 per cent share (sales of 176,000 units) and the PS2 on 41 per cent share (sales of 300,000 units).

Software sales on the GameCube are also strong, and were up 62 per cent month on month in October - leaving the overall figure for Cube software sales in the first ten months of 2003 at almost exactly twice the same figure for the first ten months of 2002.

Nintendo's jubilation at the figures is understandable, since not only does it show the company pulling ahead of Microsoft in what is arguably the strongest territory for the Xbox, but it also shows the Cube making significant gains on the PS2.

The real question, however, is whether the company can maintain its market share through Christmas, or whether October was purely a once-off influenced by the price cut to the hardware. This month will have been buoyed by the launch of Mario Kart: Double Dash, and it will be interesting to see the final figures for November in order to see what difference Mario Kart really made to the statistics.

Meanwhile, the Game Boy Advance continues to sell incredibly strongly in the USA, clocking up 400,000 sales in October - well ahead of any other console platform, and bringing Nintendo's market share of the overall market (home consoles and handheld consoles) to 51 per cent.