With the holiday season fast approaching, analysts chime in with their game sales predictions, noting that the core gamer is “the demographic to watch this year” and examining the software battle for third place.

Gamers might be celebrating a horn of gaming plenty this holiday season, but it’s still up in the air if retailers will be cheering along.

The fourth quarter of 2011 has one of the most impressive lineups of titles in years. And it’s off to what seems to be a good start.Gears of War 3 sold 3 million copies in its first week. Battlefield 3 hit 5 million in that time. And the launch of Modern Warfare 3 will top that.

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