Microsoft: 360 has best first party output

The Xbox 360's first party output has been superior to Nintendo and Sony's efforts on their consoles, so says a top Microsoft exec.

When IndustryGamers suggested that Microsoft might need to invest in more studios to better compete with its two competitors, Xbox CFO Dennis Durkin argued that it is in fact pacing ahead of both Nintendo and Sony.

"I would ask you to go and look at some of your data," he explained, "just to compare first party performance over the course of this lifecycle, because I think our first party performance in terms of quality bars and units per title this shift has been superior to our competition's."

"You can’t dispute titles like Forza, which has consistently come out on a repeated cadence and sold multi-million units. You can’t dispute things like Fable, which again, on a very consistent pace, has come out and sold two and three million units a pop.

"And now new titles, like Kinect Sports, which has come out and sold over three million units. So we are, not only building existing IP and incubating around titles like Halo and others, but really building new IP in new areas. And that's going to be core to us... to build those experiences and monetise those."

While it's not easy to judge Durkin's claims regarding units sold, the quality issue is relatively easy to qualify. According to Metacritic, Microsoft Game Studios titles boast an average score of 75, compared to 77 for Nintendo and 73 for Sony.

Looking ahead, Microsoft's current first party slate includes Forza Motorsport 4, Gears of War 3, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Kinect Star Wars, The Gunstringer, Kinect Sports: Season Two, Halo 4 and Fable: The Journey.