Microsoft: 360 has outsold original Xbox worldwide
by Randy Nelson 
{ Nov 24th 2008 at 9:50PM }
Two days after the third anniversary of its launch, Microsoft has confirmed with MCV that Xbox 360 has sold more units to date worldwide than the original Xbox did during its entire lifecycle. Although MS did not disclose exact numbers, the 360's predecessor sold through 25 million units from its launch on Nov. 15, 2001, through May of 2005. Rival Sony recently revealed that global sales of PlayStation 3 have reached 17 million units since the console went on sale Nov. 11, 2006.
MCV also reports that MS had not expected to reach this milestone for one to two more weeks, implying that sales of the 360 could push further beyond that of the first-generation Xbox by the end of the holiday shopping season. 360 heads into the holidays in the wake of a major interface revamp, the New Xbox Experience, and a year which saw substantial price cuts, placing its core Arcade SKU at $199.
MCV also reports that MS had not expected to reach this milestone for one to two more weeks, implying that sales of the 360 could push further beyond that of the first-generation Xbox by the end of the holiday shopping season. 360 heads into the holidays in the wake of a major interface revamp, the New Xbox Experience, and a year which saw substantial price cuts, placing its core Arcade SKU at $199.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gehodra @ Nov 24th 2008 9:59PM
I bet that achievement isn't worth many points...
Nick the Hero of Canton @ Nov 24th 2008 10:02PM
Oh snap! Microsoft just got dun told!
Deatharea @ Nov 24th 2008 10:03PM
Ya, its only worth 100. Now the one for outselling the Wii, that's where the points are.
zlickrick @ Nov 25th 2008 10:56AM
Have fun with your friend codes, Pikachu.
Superstar90 @ Nov 24th 2008 10:03PM
Give everyone a free game! :P
Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 24th 2008 10:07PM
How about ... UNDERTOW!
Markez @ Nov 24th 2008 10:33PM
NooooOoOOOOOoooooOOOoo... The horror...
*whimpers in fetal position
Sora @ Nov 24th 2008 10:52PM
Or Kingdom for Keflings? I got hooked on it, but didn't have enough points to buy the full game, and I didn't want to give my credit card to MS...
Superstar90 @ Nov 25th 2008 12:07AM
undertow? moar like underwhelming amirite????
Ignatius @ Nov 25th 2008 7:30AM
They're gonna have to hit nearly 62 million if they want to outsell the NES... considering production is at 1.8 million per month and they're still sold out everywhere...
Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 24th 2008 10:06PM
They've probably also replaced more 360's than they sold x-box's ... I keed I keed ... Safe to say this is MS most successful console E-V-A-R!
Foetoid @ Nov 24th 2008 10:16PM
I've heard that Sony counts replacement numbers in their '140 million' Ps2s manufactured. They've probably SOLD 120 million Ps2s, but the rest were warranty replacements. I know my brother went through 3 of them, and he was overly careful with everything.
I'm ver glad the 360 has outsold the Xbox 1. It would have been a disaster if it hadn't. Took it's time, but with a pricier console, noone expected it sell quickly, but it's good to see it finally happened.
The next big milestone will be the Wii outselling the NES, it needs 50 million sales to do it! and since it's hit 35 million in 2 years, i'm guessing it'll definatly happen.
Foetoid @ Nov 24th 2008 10:20PM
Oh man i wish i could EDIT COMMENTS!. It'll be the SNES that gets outsold when the Wii reaches 50 Million.
Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 24th 2008 11:31PM
Yeah I also went through 2 or 3 PS2's and I never even made a claim. But, after the first one I bought used ones so I guess it all evens out in the wash.
Killjebus @ Nov 25th 2008 1:37AM
Good job MS!!! Thank you for forcing Sony to try harder with online and thank you for being a part of THIS generation.
Most of all, thank you for your competition which in turn makes Sony better which make MS better and so on for US.
Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Nov 25th 2008 2:48AM
KillJebus = Douche Bag
Chin-Poh @ Nov 25th 2008 2:52AM
Damn, I don't get all the hate on Killjebus. : (
Foetoid @ Nov 25th 2008 2:56AM
It's because he's anti-Wii. Bit like how people are sick of tmac
xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Welcome Back Party Ultimate Mega Action Force) @ Nov 25th 2008 7:59AM
You can't argue with Killjebus' logic about competition, though...could you imagine only having a Wiii next generation, or only a PS4? They wouldn't even have to try. The competition, though fierce, is good for US.
On a random note, I just got a used copy of CoD4 for PS3 last night and was blown away by how easy it is to pick up and play straight out of the 360 gate, and the online portion is smooth like buttah. That's the power of competition, people.
tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 25th 2008 8:02AM
Speak for yourself foetoid, I still get voted up almost all the time.
Oh wait you're a nintendo fanboy...of course YOU are sick of me.
deaftly @ Nov 25th 2008 9:28AM
Killjebus is a good guy
*thumbs up*
Markez @ Nov 25th 2008 10:46AM
Gold star sticker for you caring about how often you get voted up.
tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 25th 2008 12:27PM
And one to you for completely missing the point of what I was trying to say.
Ghen @ Nov 24th 2008 10:10PM
They also make a profit on the hardware. that's another first for xbox.
The Dark Wayne @ Nov 24th 2008 10:30PM
wow really? I had hear that they took like an 80 dollar hit for every console. Then again that was probably back around launch when they had worse chip sets
HitNRun @ Nov 24th 2008 11:16PM
@Dark Wayne
Right on both counts. They (and every game system ever before the Wii) took a hit on consoles made early, but they've already gotten the manufacturing cost down to the point where they're making 50ish on each console (as of a few months ago).
Hyams @ Nov 25th 2008 8:30AM
Were they making that $50ish before or after the price cut?
'cos if it was before, then they must be breaking even right now.
If it was after, then bloody hell.
samfish @ Nov 25th 2008 9:32AM
"They (and every game system ever before the Wii) took a hit on consoles made early,"
This just isn't true.
NES was profitable from launch. SNES was profitable from launch. Genesis was profitable. N64 was profitable from launch. Gamecube was profitable from launch. I believe the PS1 was, too.
ALL of Nintendo's consoles have been profitable since launch, actually.
Taking a hit on console sales as the norm is actually a relatively recent thing in the games industry.
ExMcCloud @ Nov 25th 2008 10:11AM
@Dark Wayne
U know how Bungie got their freedom last year after Halo 3...Yeah they took care of that whole get MS's system in the Black situation...300 million in a short week will do it for u...lolz
Wiinterfang @ Nov 25th 2008 11:00AM
No really, most nintendo consoles are profitable by launch (Except the Virtual Boy I guess but I could be wrong) but the PS1,PS2,PS2,Xbox,Xbox 360 lose money everytime they sell a console because of the high price of new technology at the time.
Foetoid @ Nov 24th 2008 10:21PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles
Who knows how to edit a Wikipedia page and wants to update the 360s position above the Xbox 1.
Doug @ Nov 24th 2008 10:24PM
Me thinks you have to donate.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 24th 2008 10:29PM
Wow, I never knew that the Saturn did better then the Dreamcast. I guess everyone who bought the Saturn didn't want to get burned twice.
I sure the hell didn't.
Durinthal @ Nov 24th 2008 10:55PM
I was going to say nice job to 70.243.116.163 (someone in/around Austin, I think) for updating it, but then they decided to be a dick and screw with the numbers for the PS2 in addition.
Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 24th 2008 11:33PM
wouldn't have anything to do with this ...
Foetoid
Foetoid
Nov 24th 2008
10:16PM
I've heard that Sony counts replacement numbers in their '140 million' Ps2s manufactured. They've probably SOLD 120 million Ps2s, but the rest were warranty replacements. I know my brother went through 3 of them, and he was overly careful with everything.
Markez @ Nov 24th 2008 10:35PM
Ah yes, the ol' huge ugly beast of a console I use to sneer at in disgust...
Ah yes, that new magical machine I can't live (or love) without...
O__O
-Vexx- @ Nov 24th 2008 10:42PM
>_>
...
It took them this long?
Wiinterfang @ Nov 24th 2008 10:56PM
RROD scares most costumers,heck it's scare me to this day if ROD wouldn't being an issue they would be not reason not to buy an Xbox 360.
CABALLOTE @ Nov 25th 2008 3:30AM
Well, considering Sony's lofty goal of PS3 surpassing the ps2 sales around the same time ( http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1c46ad2e-5678-11dd-8686-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 ) Microsoft has at least surpassed their previous console's numbers in 3 years while it took the original xbox 4 years to reach 25 million.
Wiinterfang @ Nov 24th 2008 10:55PM
They deserved it, I'm gonna buy one when I get my copy of Sonic Unleashed.
ZaxCG2 @ Nov 25th 2008 9:08AM
Ehehhhh... huh...
WAIT. You serious?
Wiinterfang @ Nov 25th 2008 1:44PM
Yes I'm gonna buy a 360 because of Sonic Unleashed.
Dale @ Nov 24th 2008 10:55PM
I am genuinely surprised about how much I love my Xbox 360. I couldn't be bothered with the original (I'd already laid out my cash on a Dreamcast, PS2 *and* GameCube), but this time around, the Microsoft option is better than the competition for my gaming needs.
FSK405K @ Nov 25th 2008 12:23AM
As an avid Microsoft hater, yup, it's really shocking how much the 360 is beating the pants off its competition where it matters: games.
Al2x @ Nov 24th 2008 11:02PM
Viva la Xbox, with great customer service, 3rd party support, and a new great interface, good for MS.
What really surprises me is how well the PS3 is quietly selling, the 360 is at 25 million global, and the PS3 is around 17 million global, even with a year's length behind.
Note: this is just a statement, no flaming, I love both my PS3 and 360 equally.
pwnetheus @ Nov 25th 2008 12:49AM
Definitely. I think they've done pretty good considering they started 1 year later and have always had a higher price tag.
Anticrawl @ Nov 25th 2008 3:21AM
I would be loving my PS3 if Sony would have honored their warranty and not wanted me to pay 160 dollars to repair my faulty console. Wanted to play Little Big Planet but whatever, got plenty to play on my 360.
Blank-Mage @ Nov 24th 2008 11:06PM
Yeah, but if they get the "Outsold The Wii" achievement, you might want to make sure they aren't hacking.
SoulBlade @ Nov 24th 2008 11:14PM
yea.. where's the headline
Nintendo: Wii outsold the 360 after it had a 1 year head start.
I'm tired of companies talking about how well they're doing - everyone knows it's spin. All of them say mostly stupid shit, with a sprinkle of quality here and there.
Rachel Maddow @ Nov 24th 2008 11:22PM
Maybe this is one of the reasons for so many of the high sales:
Check out this Gears of War 2 video - freaking crazy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plhjrx3zTFg&feature=related