The Hollywood Reporter has the latest U.S. video game sales figures courtesy of the researchers at NPD Group. Offering a preview of figures that will be finalized in March, they offer some figures that probably make sense, though the seem to contradict each other a bit. Word is spending on video games in the new physical channel fell 8 percent to $17 billion in 2011. They then say spending on all video-game content in the U.S. was approximately $16.3-16.6 billion in 2011, down about 2 percent from 2010. They add: "Retail sales of new physical sales of video-game content declined 8 percent to $9.3 billion, compared with the $10.1 billion recorded in 2010. Hardware sales and accessory sales each fell 11 percent to $5.6 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively." However those figures are reconciled, the takeaway is physical sales continue to decline. This also has word that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the top-selling game of 2011, and the top five are rounded out by Just Dance 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and Madden NFL 12, and that Batman: Arkham City ranks seventh for the year.