As we previously reported December was the largest month for video game console sales ever.

While Activision’s huge Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 game earned more than half of its billion dollars in sales within five days of its November 10 launch, it still moved 2.75 million copies on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in December. Assuming PC sales of Modern Warfare 2 didn’t make up the difference (those numbers weren’t released in the NPD’s press release), it was bested by New Super Mario Brothers Wii, which sold 2.82 million in December after coming out around the same time. Nintendo hasn’t said how much cash it’s pulled in for the game.

As impressive as these numbers are, the gaming industry didn’t fare as well overall in 2009 as it did in 2008. The recession may have made things a little rough last year, but it looks like gamers were feeling more confident by the time the holidays came around.