Xboxist

Is it Time to Declare Xbox 360 a Success?

The last-generation Xbox was somewhat of a trial run for Microsoft, who sought to extend their reach from the home office into the living room. However the company’s late entry into the console marketplace and the dominance of Sony hardware meant that the original Xbox finished in a distant second place with approximately 25 million units sold. To put those numbers in perspective, Sony has sold more than 100 million units of the popular Playstation 2. Microsoft would have to wait until the launch of the Xbox 360 to test the waters again with their video game hardware plans.

Today, we might be ready to call their ambitious plan a success: the Redmond company announced to the LA Times that it has sold 28 million units of the Xbox 360 console as of December 2008. Lifetime sales of the Xbox 360 overtook its progenitor sometime back in November, and sales remained strong all through the holidays. With a massive price cut in place and an aggressive marketing plan already underway, we have no doubt that sales will continue to be strong through 2009 at least.

We here at Xboxist officially welcome the 360 to the pantheon of other “successful” video game consoles, and we wish Microsoft many years of success in their video game hardware business.

Early sales graph showing the perfmormance of Microsoft consoles during the first year of release.

[Source: LA Times]