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Microsoft produces NXE stats

Avatars more popular than Milky Bars.

Microsoft has produced some statistics to prove Xbox Live is more popular now the New Xbox Experience has launched.

No solid numbers were given, but apparently there has been a significant upswing of activity since the arrival of NXE on 19th November.

The amount of new friends added per Xbox Live member has risen by 33 per cent, according to Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.

A Kingdom for Keflings, the first Avatar game, went on to record the second best first-week sales ever for an Xbox Live Arcade title. And even the ageing UNO, which was patched to include Avatar support, felt the rush, as sales rocketed 650 per cent in one day.

Film downloads rose by 49 per cent, apparently, and TV episode demand increased by 30 per cent.

All of this, we're told, comes off the back of unique visitors to Xbox Live rising 66 per cent over the last year. Of course, more console sales will help to account for this figure.

There are now over 14 million people using Xbox Live, although presumably not all of those pay the GBP 40 a year for a Gold subscription.

Sony's great challenger, PlayStation Home, enters open beta today. The PS3 maker will no doubt hope to trigger a similar reaction among its community.

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