Microsoft is now boasting that its Xbox 360 gaming console had its “best ever” Christmas sales in Europe, pushing overall sales in the region to just over 8 million consoles.
Unit sales were almost double year-on-year and Microsoft also noted that they are leading the Sony PlayStation 3 by over one million units.
“2008 saw us grow faster than any of our competitors and we over-achieved in sales during the crucial Christmas selling period,” added Chris Lewis, regional VP of Microsoft’s Xbox business in Europe.
“With eight million consoles sold since we launched, and consistently out-selling PlayStation 3 in EMEA, we’re poised to build on this success in 2009.
“This success was only possible through our partnerships with retail and with publishers, with whom we’ve worked closely to build a strong ecosystem in the region and to bring value to our shared customer base.”
“As we move into 2009 and an uncertain economic climate, we continue to be committed to offering the right blend of gaming and entertainment experiences at the right price,” concluded Lewis.
Result for: PlayStation
According to year-end figures provided by Nielsen, it appears that the Sony PlayStation 2 remains the most played video game console, by far. In fact, in terms of “overall usage minutes”, the PS2 accounted for just under 32 percent of the total.
Following in the list was the Microsoft Xbox 360 at 17.2 percent and the Nintendo Wii at 13.4 percent. The PlayStation 3 improved to 7.3 percent but somewhat surprisingly, lost to the original Xbox, which managed 9.7 percent of the total.
The PS2’s lead diminished significantly from 2007’s 42 percent of the total, but understandably so considering Sony has moved all their efforts to the next-gen PS3.
Year-on-year, the PS3 jumped from 2.5 percent to 7.3 percent of the total, the Wii jumped from 5.5 percent to 13.4 percent of the total, and the 360 jumped from 12 percent to 17 percent, all at the expense of the aging set of the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube.
Result for: PlayStation
Harmonix has assured gamers that although it was promised in September and delayed, downloadable content (DLC) for the Wii version of Rock Band 2 will be coming soon.
“The downloadable content is in the final testing stages and Harmonix is working as fast as possible to deliver the 20 free bonus songs for Rock Band 2, plus an additional 30 songs from the Rock Band DLC Catalog to fans as early in 2009 as possible,” notes the company. “As soon as we can announce a firm date, you can be sure the Rock Band community will be the first to know.”
20 free bonus tracks will be identical to those in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, but the company has not yet leaked what the other 30 tracks will be.
