Over 11.6 million 360s sold

Ahead of the highly-anticipated launch of Halo 3, Microsoft has released updated statistics related to its Xbox 360 console, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

More than 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold across the 37 countries where it is currently available.

According to NPD data, US gamers have purchased more software for the Xbox 360 (24.3 million units) than for the PS3 and Wii combined (19.8 million units). There are more than 250 games available on the Xbox 360, and the console has the largest games attach rate of the current generation at 6.3 games sold per Xbox 360 owner.

Xbox LIVE is currently available in 25 countries across the globe and is on track to reach 10 million members by the end of June 2008. In the last year, Microsoft claims that it has added a new Xbox LIVE member every 8 seconds. All told, Xbox LIVE members have spent more than 3.2 billion hours playing games on Xbox LIVE with their friends around the world.

The most popular games played over Xbox LIVE worldwide include Halo 2, Gears of War, Hexic HD, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Crackdown, and PGR3.

Xbox LIVE Arcade has been a success, with nearly 70 per cent of all connected consoles downloading and playing Xbox LIVE Arcade titles. There are currently 86 titles available for download via Xbox LIVE Arcade.

To date, the most popular Xbox LIVE Arcade downloads worldwide are Aegis Wing, Uno, Texas Hold ‘em, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved, Bankshot Billiards 2, Street Fighter ‘II Hyper Fighting, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade, Worms, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Contra.

Microsoft also says that Xbox LIVE Marketplace is now the leading provider of on-demand high-definition content in the US, providing more than twice the number of hours as leading cable operators.

The Xbox 360 console was launched worldwide in November 2005.