Updated Xbox 360, Kinect, Live worldwide sales numbers

By Robert Purchese Published 10 January, 2012

But no new Xbox at CES 2012.

Last night, Microsoft's last ever Consumer Electronics Show keynote turned out not to be the time nor place for a next generation Xbox announcement.

All eyes can revert back to E3 this summer.

But Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did use the CES 2012 stage to share fresh Xbox 360 worldwide figures.

  • Xbox 360 has 66 million users worldwide - a statement that translates to total worldwide console sales.
  • Xbox Live has 40 million subscribers - he didn't specify the Gold/Silver split.
  • Kinect has shipped over 18 million units worldwide - that's shipped, not sold.

The bulk of Ballmer's talk focused on the Metro interface recently rolled out for Xbox Live. The same design is coming to Windows 8 when that operating system rolls out this year.

Ballmer said more than 1.3 billion Windows PCs are in use today.

Ballmer also waffled on about Windows Phone.

Who needs a new Xbox announcement when you've got a live demo of Sesame Street Kinect TV?

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (77) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JeffGerstmann #1 5 months ago

    new 360!? must be a typeo

  • ThePissartist #2 5 months ago

    I was wondering that too...

  • the_dudefather #3 5 months ago

    Fuck yeah, FMV games!

    /hopes for Sewer Shark 2 at E3

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #4 5 months ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #5 5 months ago

    26m people have never even connected to xbox live, im amazed by that figure. Sureley proves without a shadow of doubt the world is not ready to go fully digital for a long time.

  • Lunatic4ever #6 5 months ago

    headline is very distracting...making the article simply disappointing

  • coolbritannia #7 5 months ago

    Kinect games still account for a tiny proportion of games on the shelf. Where on earth are you shopping?

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #8 5 months ago

    Ah yes, "Updated" is probably a better choice than "New" for the title - whoops! Sorry to mislead

  • roz123 #9 5 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer 66 Million is just the number of consoles sold. Some people may have bought the console more then once because of slim/elite versions and problems like RROD.

  • kirankara #10 5 months ago

    Without stating a console war, and being totally serious,I reckon.a.good 5-10 million are probably replacement consoles or getting rid of old version and updating to new versions etc.
    Anyway, still a phenomenal set of figures that are even more amazing considering the reliability issues early in its life, and considering last gen, it sold terribly everywhere except in USA.
    Shame they seen to be isolating people who made it a success

  • amonator #11 5 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer I doubt it's 26m.
    My Xbox broke and I bought a new one, but I will be using my old account. Also, if I want to pirate games on Xbox, I'll buy a chipped console and of course I won't go online with it.

  • Scrapper #12 5 months ago

    15 to 20 million of those systems are probably replacements for broken ones though, going by failure rates for the first 4 years.

  • Badassbab #13 5 months ago

    66 million? VG Chartz @ 60.6 million (as of 31/12/11) way off then.

  • johnson81 #14 5 months ago

    66 million users = Worldwide sales? What about 360' with multiple accounts?

  • MiY4MOTO #15 5 months ago

    Ballmer also waffled on about Windows Phone.
    I'm sorry, is this a news article?

    I came here to find out what was shown at the their keynote. It appears I mistook this site for a reputable one.

    Really disappointed EG. Bad form.

  • Badassbab #16 5 months ago

    @Scrapper

    I do wonder that. MS did offer 3 year extended warranty which I took advantage of twice and I'd imagine those replacements don't count towards sales figures. I also bought an Elite (to replace Pro) and then a Slim.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #17 5 months ago

    If anyone is buying a new console to replace a broken one, they are a bit of an idiot, since MS will fix the broken ones for 60 quid, rather than at least double that for a new one.

  • Octoroc #18 5 months ago

    @MiY4MOTO

    Here's the BBC report of the same event:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16482779

    As informal as the word "waffle" may be, it does seem to be quite accurate in this case.

  • Lexx87 #19 5 months ago

    Unless their 20gb one dies and they buy a new Slim model?

    Why is that idiotic?

  • IkariW #20 5 months ago

    "The bulk of Ballmer's talk focused on the Metro interface recently rolled out for Xbox Live."

    Maybe instead of talking about it, they could listen to their customer feedback and make the bl00dy thing better?! First and foremost I buy consoles to play games! not to get adverts stuffed down my throat or to watch Sky, I have f**king Sky underneath the xbox! arrghh...

    The thing I don't understand, is that years ago, and I'm showing my age here, but years ago electrical items that combined multiple functions were looked upon as inferior to items that served a sole purpose. (Hi-fi being one example)

    I can see consoles going the same way if they carry on down this 'All things to all people' route.

    I love games, I buy consoles for games firstly, everything else is secondary, Having 'Games' on the 4th tab along is a disgrace imo. :(

  • 43n1m4 #21 5 months ago

    Love all the time they spent on speech recognition/voice commands (which is apparent if you've seen the full keynote), when those features are disabled in my country, be it on my windows phone or XBox360. The Bing search screen on my Xbox360 looks at me provocatively, as if expecting me to pick up the controller and write long search texts. Sure. That's what I bought the Kinect for. Or..
    Edited by 43n1m4 at 10/01/12 @ 09:33

  • dancingrob #22 5 months ago

    indeed.

    I've bought two, a 60GB model, which had the open tray error after about 18 months, and was replaced with an 120GB elite, about 3 months before the Slim was released.

    Seeing as early models were notoriously made of cheese, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that plenty of people have bought two machines, and that explains part of the discrepancy between the 66 million / 40 million figure.

  • Scrapper #23 5 months ago

    @Badassbab
    I'm not saying the warranty repairs count as +1 to the tally. Rather, I'm saying there were a lot of people who originally weren't given repairs (before the 3 year warranty deal was announced). On top of that, you also have presumably a large number of units that fail outside the 3 year window.

    How often do you see people mention now "my xbox just broke, should I just buy a new slim" on various forums. A lot of people do go out and buy replacements rather than get them repaired.

    Pretty much all the pre-slimline 360s are ticking timebombs, so the defective rate would be a sizeable percentage of the 40-45 million chunky 360s.

    Hopefully that explains my reasoning, somewhat.

  • Scrapper #24 5 months ago

    @MENTAL1ST
    Microsoft have a nerve to charge anything to repair their systems, when all non-slim units are inherently broken.

    negged for stating the truth? Tell me what other system broke so often it needed a 3 year, $1 billion warranty program, after a year of customer complaints and denials from Microsoft that there even was a problem?
    Edited by Scrapper at 10/01/12 @ 10:08

  • evild_edd #25 5 months ago

    @Biker_Bob_1971: "The way it is heading towards the kids and grandma and grandpa, is not the route I want to take. I'm ashamed to stand in front of the Xbox game racks filled with Kinect dross..."

    Whilst I understand the sentiment, and am wholly uninterested in motion gaming as a whole, I see MS's courting of the younger demographic as just part of the console cycle. The early adopters will always be the 'hardcore', and they will be rewarded with hardcore titles and an experience tailored to their desires. This group, however, is limited in number.

    As a console drops in price more people start to buy-in to it, and those people will inherently be 'causal' gamers (in the main). This is where the growth (and money) comes in for developers, and it's only natural that they seek to attract as many of these potential customers as possible.

    Appreciate you may lot like the efforts to attract these individuals, but MS will refocus on the hardcore when they have a next generation of xbox to shift, and you'll have a new wave of titles to appeal to your tastes. This is the way it's always worked (or at least it has since the PS2 era - with Singstar, buzz, dancing games etc).

    That being said, I do think MS have gone a little too far with their priority shift over the past 12 months. I think their lack of a number of in-house development studios (compared with Sony and Ninty) has led to their resources being stretched a little too thin.

  • IronGiant #26 5 months ago

    Interesting that they gave the kinect shipped figures and not sales, yet after release they couldn't wait to shout about units sold. A large number of used kinects are currently clogging up the shelves of game and gamestation stores!

  • deez #27 5 months ago

    @johnson81 and what about all those broken ones no longer in use? And those who have one and never use it? correlating sales to users doesn't really work.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #28 5 months ago

    Not this RROD argument again:

    Nov 2005 (Console launch - 1yr Warranty)
    Jul 2007(3yr Warranty announced. Covers back to launch)
    Aug 2008 (Launch of Jasper - Normal levels of failure)
    Jun 2010 (Slim model - 1yr Warranty)

    The gaps in warranty where you would have to BUY a replacement are relatively small. When you see people come here saying they've had 13 360s fail (in relation to sales), don't listen to them. They're either fucking idiots for not taking advantage of the warranty or they're lying.

    I'm not defending RROD; it was a fucking debacle, but when someone says "15 to 20 million of those systems are probably replacements for broken ones though" they're WAY WAY off.

  • Doctor_What #29 5 months ago

    @IkariW They don't really care about Sky this generation: what they're trying to do is get people accustomed to the idea that next generation you won't need two boxes beneath your TV, just the Xbox and you will use that for everything.

    They used a similar loss-leader strategy with the original Xbox - they never expected it to beat the PS2, they just wanted people to get used to the idea of MS making a console.

  • Scrapper #30 5 months ago

    @LaFlamaBlanca
    The RROD argument is not redundant: original 360s were built to poor standards. PS3 YLOD is a slightly longer fuse, but still pretty bad (and disgusting they charge as much as they do).

    The key point here is this:
    Both RROD and YLOD are VERY IMPORTANT LESSONS, and we must never let Microsoft or Sony forget them. Otherwise we will just see the same dud hardware time and time again.

  • arcam #31 5 months ago

    @SpaceMidget75 They're either fucking idiots for not taking advantage of the warranty...

    This describes a lot of people.
    Edited by arcam at 10/01/12 @ 10:15

  • Scrapper #32 5 months ago

    @SpaceMidget75
    So in August 2008 they reached "normal levels of failure"?

    Which means 3 years worth of duds were sold to the public. How many 360s had been sold in those first 3 years?

    Wikipedia says they reached 30 million sales by May 2009, so I'd guess that it's about 25 million systems sold to August 2008. A reasonable estimate, we can both agree, surely.

    Now out of those 25 million, I'd guess that a 60% defective rate is not unreasonable given a few years and how badly they were manufactured. At the very least, it would be about 10 million broken systems.

    And all sold to launch buyers at the highest price.

  • Subdominator #33 5 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer Yes, but the number is also a result of the fact that you don't have to be online to play games. A lot of people might even think you have to pay just for taking the 360 online. The next step for the new Xbox will be that it is always online, just like PCs and other hardware.

    However WTF at those 66 million consoles. If Microsoft keeps this up (and they have at least three price cuts they can make) 360 will easily surpass 100 million by the end of 2013 and even attack Wii total sales. I can see it ending its life cycle with 130+ million now.

  • kirinnokoshin #34 5 months ago

    I wonder what Wii sales numbers would be like if people had to buy a similar percentage of replacements to cover for faulty hardware.....

  • mastablasta #35 5 months ago

    I am dreading the new Xbox as it's going to cost me a fortune as I've now got an Xbox in 4 rooms.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #36 5 months ago

    @evild_edd I couldn't agree more. Most successful consoles move to a more casual market towards the end of there life as the price drops and the game library broadens to accommodate them. I've mostly moved to PC gaming for the time being. The problem with MS is that the next gen (which would appease the hardcore) is taking longer to come and they're being bloody shortsighted when it comes to in-house development. It will bite them in the arse next gen.

  • Scrapper #37 5 months ago

    @Subdominator
    It sold 66 million in 6 years (maybe closer to 50 million when factoring in RROD) - so thats 10 million per year on average.
    And you think it's going to sell another 34 million in the next 2 years?

    Ambitious, to say the least.

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #38 5 months ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #39 5 months ago

    @Scrapper
    Now out of those 25 million, I'd guess that a 60% defective rate is not unreasonable given a few years and how badly they were manufactured. At the very least, it would be about 10 million broken systems.
    And how many of those were covered by either the 1 year warranty or the 3 year warranty? I wasn't arguing failure rate, I was arguing the number that would have covered. Jeez.

  • GAmbrose #40 5 months ago

    If Windows 8 is anything like the new Dashboard, don't expect me to upgrade from Windows 7!

  • Subdominator #41 5 months ago

    @LaFlamaBlanca It is indeed quite the difference, but it's not 10 million. Sony just released their sales numbers, 3.9 million worldwide over the holiday season.

    That puts Sony at 55.5 (September) + 3.9 = 59.4 million compared to the 66 million 360. In September Sony was close to overtaking Microsoft in total sales (55.5 to 57.6), but Microsoft destroyed them during the holiday season and went home as the winner. Impressive, PS3 has not won a single holiday season, it's always in third place.

    This means that Microsoft managed to not only be strong in the US, this year they have also dominated Europe during the holiday season.

    And those Kinect numbers are just crazy. No wonder they redesign the dashboard so you have to use Kinect to be just as quick as before. 18 million shipped equals about 16 million sold. That's more than 25 % of all 360 users.

  • TechnicPuppet #42 5 months ago

    People always bring up the same stuff about broken consoles etc. What really proves this is a nonsense is the industry leading game attach rate. That keeps going up even as they sell more consoles, explain that one?

  • Scrapper #43 5 months ago

    @SpaceMidget75 I know what you were talking about (jeeeezzz). But even today you still see heaps of people upgrading from those old systems that are now no longer under warranty. Even when they were, many people required multiple repairs. Check out the 360 failure thread on neogaf for example.

    And that said, the warranty was not brought in until July 2007 (over 18 months after launch), so a lot of repairs/replacements were not covered then. Additionally, it was not until April 2009 when the E74 error was covered by a 3 year warranty. E74 was also a significant error, so mark that down for even more failed systems not repaired.

    Simply put, 360 hardware quality was a debacle from day 1, and no doubt they gained a significant number of extra sales as a result of people being tied to the service with accessories, digital content, friends etc.

  • frazzl #44 5 months ago

    Does it really matter why someone buys a 360? Whether it is a first time purchase or an RROD replacement it is still money in Microsoft's pocket and one more to the tally of units sold. The same logic applies to PS3s/Wiis sold as well. Fanboys are seriously fucking stupid.

    And it's nice to see that Biker_Bob is still the epitome of an "intelligent" gamer. God forbid MS cater to more than 1 type of gamer. And yeah I see MS abandoning core titles that sell millions of units for far less successful family friendly Kinect fare. After all weren't we swamped with Kinect titles during the recently finished holiday season? Didn't we struggle to find our copies of Skyrim midst the sea of "Gunstringer" and "Kinect Sports Season 2" cases? ;).

  • Subdominator #45 5 months ago

    @SpaceMidget75 Microsoft has created a dozen new inhouse studios over the last 15 months. It's pretty obvious what their strategy is: 1st party titles to launch new hardware and then please the 3rd parties to get timed exclusives. Worked great for them this gen and they'll try to do the same next gen. The reason why they closed studios before was: They don't needed them at the time. They had Halo, they had Gears, they had Call of Duty.

  • Metal-Militia #46 5 months ago

    On my 3rd 360. Only actually purchased 2 as 1 was a replacement from MS. I picked up my slim second hand, so I suppose you need to factor that element in too. It all gets rather convoluted.

    Regarding Kinect, for me it doesn't push me away from the console. If I don't want the games,I don't buy them. I've never viewed more choice as a negative. It's not really suited to my needs or wants so I don't purchase (although having an add pushed down your throat every minute on the dashboard does get a bit annoying, especially on a paid for service).

  • Subdominator #47 5 months ago

    @Scrapper Average numbers with hardware sales don't work. Hardware sales are mostly a direct result of price (and price of 360 is still very high, in fact it's the only SKU that actually went up in average price over 50 quid thanks to Kinect). The longer a system is on the market, the higher its sales - until the point where demand is not that strong anymore. But as PS2 proved the market is good for 150 million consoles. 360 is just about to reach its sweet spot.

    10
    17
    28
    39
    50
    66

    What are those numbers? Worldwide sales of 360, of course.
    10 million at CES 2007
    17 million at CES 2008 (+7 million)
    28 million at CES 2009 (+11 million)
    39 million at CES 2010 (+11 million)
    50 million at CES 2011 (+11 million)
    66 million at CES 2012 (+16 million)

    See, why average numbers are useless? With this kind of momentum (thanks to Slim and Kinect, next up the list will be cheaper price and Halo 4) they can sell as much as 20 milion in 2012.

  • Anaardvark #48 5 months ago

    Is it sad that the only reason I would want a child is so I can watch Sesame Street TV and play Once Upon A Monster?

  • Chazmeister #49 5 months ago

    The bulk of Ballmer's talk focused on the Metro interface recently rolled out for Xbox Live. The same design is coming to Windows 8 when that operating system rolls out this year.

    Good grief! I'm going to be staying the hell away from Windows 8 then. I absolutely loathe that new Metro dash.

  • Subdominator #50 5 months ago

    @Chazmeister Yeah, I wonder who came up with the brilliant idea to have a unified UI for every platform. Makes no sense at all.

  • telboy007 #51 5 months ago

    I turned my 360 on last night to play some Space Marine, but I couldn't manage it as all the ads were getting in the way. I tried to press that A button, I really did but all these ads were in my face. It was just horrible.

    Oh that's right, I just pressed A and played Space Marine.

  • dancingrob #52 5 months ago

    @Metal-Militia

    from what you've just described, although you've had 3 360s, only one of those would actually count as a 'sale', as replacements and second hand sales are irrelevant for the purposes of MS, and this is what people like Scrapper are forgetting.

  • Metal-Militia #53 5 months ago

    @dancingrob

    My exact point mate. Just because someone has had x number of consoles, doesn't mean they all account for direct sales. The second hand market massively dillutes sales numbers and makes it hard to make a real esitmate. I've got a few mates who have had RRoD and replaced with a pre-owned slim.

    Ultimately, whether it's Sony, MS, Ninty or any other hardware manufacturer selling shed loads of consoles, in the long run it is good for us gamers. Investment in the industry will just keep going up as there's more consumers to reach.

    Yes, some stuff they do is annoying (dashboard, psn hack etc...) but the good times FAR outway the bad.

  • Scrapper #54 5 months ago

    @LaFlamaBlanca
    I understand that. I'm not making my RROD complaints as a "ps3 fanboy" however. I'm making the complaints as someone who is still irritated at having spent $650 (Australian) and $900 (Aus, again) on launch PS3s and 360s that didnt last 12 months before breaking.

    I really value quality built hardware. PS3 and 360 slim systems are fine, but they really should have launched with systems that good in the first place.

  • IkariW #55 5 months ago

    @Doctor_What And thats kind of what I was driving at, having one box that does everything isn't necessarily the best way to go for 'Games' consoles. Besides we already have something like that, its called a PC/Apple etc etc.

    Key word being 'games'. ;)

    I totally understand the strategy MS used, and it was the right thing to do with the original xbox vs PS2. But the difference here is that MS aren't providing their own service or hardware to compete with a rival, they are using their rivals services and integrating into their hardware.

    These rival companies are paid to be on xbox, and probably a little bit of visa versa going on too what with promotion etc. But the rival company is never going to give sole control of their service over to MS usless they are bought out right.

    MS did a really good job of making a games console about the games with xbox one, and to start with, the 360, I just hope they don't lose sight of that too much.

    After all, no matter what console companies think, where the hardcore go, the mainstream follows. :)
    We want a Games Console... not a service provider. :)

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #56 5 months ago

    Yawn! MicroZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZoft!

  • Xboxfanuk #57 5 months ago

    Best quotes from keynote:

    "See what happens when you touch the monkey?" and Seacrest saying "Everyone want's to line up here to play with the coconuts."

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #58 5 months ago

    MicroZoloft!:):):):):)

  • Darren #59 5 months ago

    "Ballmer said Kinect was coming to Windows on 1st February.

    Ballmer said more than 1.3 billion Windows PCs are in use today."

    I can see where they're going with that statement but I'd be surprised if more than 0.05% of that potential customer base buys Kinect.

  • Darren #60 5 months ago

    @SpaceMidget75 - Regardless of whether you use the warranty for a repair or buy a new Xbox 360 in the event of your machine dying, it still counts as one failed unit that is repaired or replaced with a working one! That's my criteria anyway. ;)

    I've been through no less than SEVEN Xbox 360s on this basis. One was repaired by Microsoft twice (new motherboard meant Xbox Live saw them as new consoles therefore count = 3), a new one lasted 30 minutes (= 4), two lasted a month (= 6) (the last three exchanged at GAME) and my current one (= 7), which is rarely used these days anyway, is a shiny black S model which I bought to replace the older white model which I gave to my niece last Christmas. That is apparently still working, much to my surprise. I don't know anyone with an Xbox 360 who hasn't replaced theirs at least once and many have changed them twice. The couriers who picked up my dead Xbox 360s confirmed that they picked up dozens PER DAY and one wouldn't buy his own son one because of it. I can't say I'm too impressed with Microsoft's quality control myself. Even my launch Xbox, which I bought in March 2002, died after 14 days but GAME swapped that. The replacement was still working when I packed it away in summer 2006.

    My launch Wii is still going strong, though to be fair it has hardly been used for the past two and half years, and my PS3 Slim was a replacement for my launch unit which died after almost three years of use (much to my annoyance as I lost PS2 emulation, two USB ports and the memory expansion slots!). (Ironically, because of the reputation of the Xbox 360 at that time, I took out an extended three year warranty when I bought my PS3 in March 2007. Alas, although it died just before that cover expired, the company contracted to do the repairs were a cowboy outfit IMO and the repaired console died again within a week taking with it a brand new copy of Uncharted 2. I was gutted as you can imagine. I managed to get some money back though thankfully and used that to purchase a Slim from GAME. Definitely will not take out extended warranties at GAME in future though!)
    Edited by Darren at 10/01/12 @ 13:30

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #61 5 months ago

    @Scrapper No, you're right! Definitely. Going by your figures (20 mil were replacements) the attach rate of the 360 isn't 9.03 but actually 12.95!!

    Considerably higher than even the long running PS2. Well done Microsoft. :rolleyes:

  • Darklightside #62 5 months ago

    Both figures are not going to tell the truth like many have said many users have had their machines breakdown and have bought new ones. Yet people seem to forget a user can create as many xbox live accounts as they want from one console I have 3 for instance only one is gold however. How many other user have got more than one account?
    Edited by Darklightside at 10/01/12 @ 13:19

  • Fightersmegamix #63 5 months ago

    They sold 66 million either way. If 15 million broke and people bought new ones doesn't that show they were happy with the console? They could have bought PS3's once their 360 broke. The question should be why didn't sony capitalise on the high failure rate?

    Either way, its not like I have have shares in any of these companies.

  • Darren #64 5 months ago

    @Eurocensor - A billion is 1,000,000,000 is it not? Therefore 5/100ths of a percent (0.05%) of 1.3 billion is 650,000 by my calculations. ;)

    Maybe I should have just said I'd be surprised if Kinect sells more than a million units on the PC.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #65 5 months ago

    @Darren Yo, like I said Darren I don't deny the failure rates, they're awful and MS fucked up big time, but warranty replacements don't count as sales - simple as that. When someone can show me concrete proof that every time you get a console exchanged it counts as another on Microsoft's sales tally, I'll publicly apologise on here. ;)
    Edited by SpaceMidget75 at 10/01/12 @ 13:25

  • Darren #66 5 months ago

    @SpaceMidget75 - Well technically I've bought THREE Xbox 360's as my repaired launch console was sold but I bought a new one with HDMI before I did that. That was the machine that lasted 30 minutes, the replacement a month and its replacement approximately another month before that eventually died and needed a repair (the second one)! That was the machine I eventually gave to my niece that is still working. I then bought a new Slim model when it came out. Sure, I didn't have to but I wanted a larger hard drive and I was tempted by reports of lower power consumption and an internal redesign which I hoped would mean better reliability. (Odd how the Slim is actually noisier than my previous consoles though when playing games from the disc?)

    I presume that those replaced machines at GAME did not count at three separate sales though but one since they were exchanged for new ones? It may be that Microsoft base their sales on unadjusted figures though to make them seem more impressive? I really don't know how that works to be honest.

  • rudedudejude #67 5 months ago

    I find it hard to believe people think MS view the xbox as a games console and are outraged when they realise the entire point of releasing xbox (at a loss initially) was simply to get boxes into houses.

    Once machines are out, it's a simple change to move it over to a home media center, connecting seamlessly with all your Microsoft devices providing a full circle media solution from the guys at MS. PC, Phone, Media, Games - its the same thing apple and Google have been trying to do for years. The only difference here is MS's way in was games - not via a phone or through your search engine / (soon to be operating system when chrome laptops come out)

    I fully expect gaming to take second stage when the home media center gets in full flow which makes me sad - which we have clearly seen just from seeing the new dash (which is a usability shambles).

    It's about more potential market - casual, media fans - more boxes in homes - more sales. Broaden the appeal and increase your $

    Microsoft are not stupid - they look at the long-term plan - 10-20 years. Get boxes in homes now, people on board, and it's win all round in the future.
    Edited by rudedudejude at 10/01/12 @ 14:02

  • Metal-Militia #68 5 months ago

    @jennymaynard01

    I think your mum is getting her jubblies out on a web cam.

  • Sponz #69 5 months ago

    @Metal-Militia

    Maybe thats why she got fired from work in the first place...

  • uninspiredcup #70 5 months ago

    Microsoft once again not giving a shit about pc gaming.

  • Hieronymus #71 5 months ago

    How I envy the kids who are going to benefit from these games. The concept of these games is simply amazing! Would have been great if I were able to interact with the cartoons I watched back in the day.

    Well onwards to E3 can't wait for the new xbox reveal, which I'm pretty confident is going to happen.

  • Collymilad #72 5 months ago

    You know what, I was clamouring for the next gen. Then I played RAGE.

    It's not quite a leap, but I reckon I could go maybe ONE more year if more games started using id tech 5. Still, would be nice to see SOMETHING this year.

  • cheeky_BILLY #73 5 months ago

    I'm not stirring, but I think Xbox/MS is really not listening to what it's customer want. They really are heading off in a lot of the wrong directions.

  • Hxy3000 #74 5 months ago

    @43n1m4 Change your locale to another country, then the voice commands work, which is stupid.

  • man.the.king #75 5 months ago

    Xbox 360 has 66 million users worldwide - a statement that translates to total worldwide console sales.
    Going by that logic, if he actually means number of users = total sales, then I have three Users across 2 360s - guess that means I have three XBox 360s.

  • werewolf_poo #76 5 months ago

    People that claim they have had anything close to 10 xbox's are just attention seeking idiots.
    Here is my experience. My 20gig got rrod the day GTA4 was released, I was worried as it was over 2 years old, I rang the customer services, spoke to someone who spoke english and I had it back fully repaired within 6 days. Stole my nephews xbox whilst he was on holiday to play GTA (which was lucky for me) My xbox had been To Germany and back (and repaired) in 6 days, now thats good service. I also had an elite for 18 months and had no problems, sold that on ebay to buy my slim which I have now.

    On the other hand my brother in law just got charged £60 for a new disk drive on his PS3 and waited 2 and a half weeks for it back from sony.

    So as far as customer service goes to broken consoles (and no matter your views on the reasons behind them having to release a 3 year warranty) Microsoft still produce a great service to people with problem consoles.

    Now Comparitevely speaking between me and the girlfriend who plays many hours of the sims 3 (now obsessed with Dragon Age) we have the xbox on at least once a day and sometimes (especially the last 6 months) for prolonged hours of use. We also stream a lot of media through the xbox aswell.

    Her brother on the other hand plays Fifa on his PS3 and your lucky if he plays on it once a month, the only other time it gets fired up is when the family is round at xmas and singstar comes out.

    Make of that what you want but as a console gamer with experience of both consoles, the xbox is what I'm happy with and I have had very few problems with since 2006.

  • Ryze #77 4 months ago

    I have 2 360s, so I expect you to correct that to 65,999,999 immediately!