That's 17.7 million since the console's launch over two years ago, with nearly four-and-a-half million of that total sold in the fourth quarter of 2007. Official sales figures are still being tallied but that's not stopping Microsoft from tooting its own horn and attributing those 4.3 million to sales hits like Halo 3 and Mass Effect.
In fact the company says Mass Effect has so far sold 1.6 million copies, while Halo 3 has to date sold 8.1 million copies, meaning nearly half of all Xbox 360 owners have purchased a copy. Microsoft claims it sold 13.4 million Xbox 360s by the end of September, when Halo 3 debuted.
That's generally positive news for Microsoft and I doubt we'll see it replicated when Sony's numbers hit.
Nintendo? The company had sold 13.2 million units worldwide in September, but most recently projected it wouldn't hit 17.5 million units until the end of its fiscal year in March.
Does that mean Microsoft outsold Nintendo console for console in the final quarter of 2007?
I don't think so. Wait for Nintendo's numbers (I expect they'll be much higher than Nintendo expected, though admittedly offset by serious supply issues) and we'll see. Anything north of 4.4 million will knock Microsoft down a peg and put the Wii numerically neck and neck with the Xbox 360 worldwide. Of course it's highly unlikely anyone saw overall software sales as high as Microsoft's in the final quarter. Again, we'll see.
Notable: GameSpot astutely points out that 17.7 million total may actually show a sales downturn for the Xbox 360 -- from 8.9 million in 2006 to just 7.3 million in 2007.
