Thu, Nov 12, 2009 | 22:09 GMT
Microsoft: 10 million Xbox 360 consoles sold in Europe, Middle East, Africa
Microsoft has announced that 10 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in four years time.
The company stated that this huge number is evidence that “Xbox 360 is the only console to achieve year-on-year growth across the region this year”.
“Xbox 360 continues to pull ahead of the competition when it comes to delivering on a complete home entertainment experience and we think that Xbox Live currently is about 12 to 18 months ahead of its main rival PlayStation Network when it comes to offering service and content beyond traditional games,” said Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics.
“By introducing innovative new services and content such as Natal, instant streaming of full 1080P HD video, and integrating social media features such as Twitter and Facebook, Xbox will likely attract a wider audience than its rivals and is in a great position to maximize sales in the next few years”.
It was also revealed that 35 percent of Xbox customers are women and 64 percent are over the age of 25.
Full PR through the break.
LONDON – 12 November 2009 -Xbox 360 today announced that it had achieved console sales to 10 million consumers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in just four years. Reaching the landmark number has meant that Xbox 360 is the only console to achieve year-on-year growth across the region this year[1]. The launch next week of instant streaming HD movies, Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm on Tuesday 17th November 2009 transforms Xbox LIVE into the largest social network connected to the TV and strengthens Xbox 360’s already impressive line up of interactive entertainment services.
“Xbox 360 continues to pull ahead of the competition when it comes to delivering on a complete home entertainment experience and we think that Xbox Live currently is about 12 to 18 months ahead of its main rival PlayStation Network when it comes to offering service and content beyond traditional games,” said Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics. “By introducing innovative new services and content such as Natal, instant streaming of full 1080P HD video, and integrating social media features such as Twitter and Facebook, Xbox will likely attract a wider audience than its rivals and is in a great position to maximize sales in the next few years”.
2009 has been a pivotal year in Xbox’s journey from its gaming origins to now changing the way people consume and share entertainment content, interact with each other online and continue to play great games. It’s a change that people are embracing; there are more than 20 million Xbox LIVE active members worldwide and there have been over 1 billion downloads of gaming and entertainment content, with movie downloads doubling in the last year alone.
“Reinventing entertainment through, play, watch, connect and share. This is the vision that we have for Xbox 360 and today that vision is the reality for 10 million Xbox owners. European consumers are very discerning and demand a connected entertainment experience. That’s why we focused on providing content that is right and relevant for them and entertainment beyond just gaming to movies, music and social networking. We have delivered on this promise and next week will bring real innovation into the living room through instant streaming high definition movies, connecting with friends on Facebook and Twitter and a personalised music channel. Together, this represents a real shift in the way people are entertained every day,” said Chris Lewis, vice president Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Europe.
This reinvention of entertainment has already seen a shift in where the Xbox lives in the home, with the majority (60%) of Xbox consoles now becoming integrated into the family living room. It has also caused a shift in the Xbox customer base as now 35% of Xbox customers are women and 64% are over the age of 25[2]. The arrival of the much anticipated ‘Project Natal’ will create a new category of gaming and entertainment experiences through controller-free gaming that makes Xbox 360 more inclusive and relevant to an even wider audience.
-Ends-
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Posted in: Europe, Hot, Microsoft, Retail, Trade, Xbox 360, hardware
Tags: 10 million consoles, africa, Middle East
30 comments
#1
Psychotext
12/11/09, 10:11 pm
“64 percent are over the age of 25″
Could have fooled me. 90% of xbox live seems like 12 year olds.
#2
Razor
12/11/09, 10:20 pm
Wasn’t it 10 million last year?
#3
reask
12/11/09, 10:20 pm
^ Win. Oops that was meant for pt.
#4
Psychotext
12/11/09, 10:22 pm
Hit 10m in the US last year Razor.
#5
MushroomStamp
12/11/09, 10:27 pm
I’ve been saying… I never run into kids, I don’t know why you have such bad luck.
#6
freedoms_stain
12/11/09, 10:36 pm
And how many of those are still functional?
#7
Gekidami
12/11/09, 10:38 pm
ZING!
Or are rebuys?
ZING!
#8
Psychotext
12/11/09, 10:44 pm
Probably the time of day I usually play MushroomStamp. It’s around when the kids get home from school in the US.
#9
Gekidami
12/11/09, 10:47 pm
Its not only kids by my experience, i’d like to say it mainly an American thing to but some people from the UK are just as bad.
To be fair though Americans are ridiculously competitive.
#10
Soong
12/11/09, 11:08 pm
The screeching American kids on live (who are also a lot more foul-mouthed and racist than other users it seems) is the reason why I’m hoping for regional filters on Live.
#11
Psychotext
12/11/09, 11:10 pm
I still want to see a “Grey” version of XBL gold which is only available to those 30+ and automatically blocks the voice comms of anyone on Gold.
#12
theevilaires
12/11/09, 11:13 pm
“By introducing innovative new services and content such as Natal, instant streaming of full 1080P HD video
LMFAO your UI can’t even display 1080p native how are going to show off that full 1080p streaming trick. M$ is so full of it and at least 50% of those consoles have been replaced or RRODed. Especially through out Europe.
#13
Psychotext
12/11/09, 11:19 pm
You do realise that you can have 1080p upscaled on the dashboard and 1080p native elsewhere right?
#14
theevilaires
12/11/09, 11:30 pm
funny they won’t let you do it on the dashboard. I wonder why. Do you care to explain?
#15
Psychotext
12/11/09, 11:38 pm
How on earth would I know?
If I was to guess I’d say that it would have put them past the memory / CPU usage budget for the dashboard which wouldn’t have been possible as games had already been developed with the original limits.
Had it been there as a resolution from the start then it might have been a different story. That said, it obviously doesn’t stop games / apps using it as a resolution.
#16
theevilaires
12/11/09, 11:50 pm
Funny because I can use a 1080p wallpaper on both of my equal 1080p XBR5 bravias and see that the image on PS3 is clean and crisp around every edge. While the same image on 360 is blurry. This is a simple static image and you expect me to believe the 360 will do the so called 1080p streaming trick justice…a static pic vs moving objects in a film.
Enjoy your blu-ray/SDtv experience xbox only onwers.
#17
Psychotext
12/11/09, 11:53 pm
Didn’t we just discuss the fact that the dashboard was 720p upscaled? I’m almost certain we did.
But you still don’t seem to get that it can do 1080p native in games and videos.
#18
theevilaires
13/11/09, 12:09 am
I’ll just have to do my own research then with movies on both systems. Its a shame I didn’t grab one of those HD-DVD add-ons when it was beaten by blu-ray.
#19
Psychotext
13/11/09, 12:15 am
Research into what exactly? Are you still trying to make out that the 360 can’t do 1080p native despite the evidence the contrary?
#20
Armitage
13/11/09, 12:29 am
It fakes it. It does 1079p then upscales. There’s an article about that on the internet somewhere.
#21
Psychotext
13/11/09, 12:30 am
#22
theevilaires
13/11/09, 12:34 am
Ever heard the term I believe it when I see it. Well I’ve done some test and it doesn’t seem likely to me. When the 1080p streaming service comes out I’ll give it a try (granted I won’t need to pay for live to use it).
Another thing, its kind of a personal question.Why do you stay up all day and night replying to random people all the time. Do you ever sleep? Its like what early Friday over there. I thought M$ stopped paying its employees overtime.
#23
Armitage
13/11/09, 12:38 am
Though not having the UI at 1080 does seem a bit shite, they should sort that out.
#24
Psychotext
13/11/09, 12:42 am
If you want pretty much definitive proof that the 360 can do 1080p native TEA, go and download the demo for Geometry Wars 2. It’s crisp as f*ck on a 1080p TV, and an excellent little game to boot.
…and no, I’m up working as per usual at the moment. Right now I’m tuning a system in the US. It’s shit work, but someone has to do it (and I’m cheaper than paying someone else!).
#25
Armitage
13/11/09, 12:51 am
If you are working what are you doing posting stuff on a games site, you slacker. Get back to work. You’re getting paid whilst arguing crap with tea about resolutions. Terrible business. What does “tuning systems” involve anyway?
#26
Psychotext
13/11/09, 12:56 am
Making changes then collecting performance data to see the effect those changes have had… then making more changes, and so on. Tedium.
#27
theevilaires
13/11/09, 1:03 am
Hmmm seems that game does look rather good in 1080p but I’m not impressed by sprites. The wii could even make this game look good. So I guess you proved your point while my point still stays valid. The dashboard is not 1080p native and I guess we won’t see any real power house graphics game either in that resolution like GT5.
Sprites in 1080p what a cute trick. Its like a HD Gameboy color
#28
Armitage
13/11/09, 1:04 am
@PT
Huh. The lengths the PC hardcore will go to to get that optimal Crysis framerate eh?
#29
Psychotext
13/11/09, 1:06 am
Ha… that would probably be more interesting.
#30
Blerk
13/11/09, 8:35 am
It’ll probably be 11 million next week, given the number of pirates they just ejected.