Microsoft claims huge US holiday sales
Reckons 360 outsold PS3 three-to-one.
Microsoft has trumpeted the biggest-ever sales of Xbox 360 over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the US, claiming a three-to-one advantage over PlayStation 3.
The weekend, known as Black Friday, is traditionally one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year for our American cousins.
According to the press release, retailers told the software giant that they'd sold 25 per cent more 360s over the Black Friday weekend than they had in 2007, and three times as many units as Sony's machine.
After recent price cuts, the Xbox 360 costs USD 200 to 400, depending on the version, versus USD 400 or 500 for a PS3.
Similar price cuts in Europe have led to a 400 per cent increase in sales in some cases, Microsoft said. European sales are "nearly double" last year's figures and approaching 7 million units in all.
The press release's most outlandish claim was that Xbox 360 has "more broad-appeal social titles than any other platform" - an opinion that might raise some eyebrows at Nintendo.
"We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market," crowed Xbox boss Don Mattrick.
"Record Black Friday sales in the US, coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009," he said.