Xbox 360 to hit 25m sales this month

Microsoft will have sold 25 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide by the end of the month, the company said this morning

"The future of home entertainment is Xbox 360 - it's on demand, it's high definition, it's always social, it's all in one place," said Xbox boss Don Mattrick.

“With the New Xbox Experience we will reach the next generation of Xbox owners, 25 million and beyond. We are at a watershed moment, backed by the largest entertainment brands, with an incredible line-up of entertainment unmatched in any industry."

25 million units puts Xbox 360 above the total number of original Xboxes sold during that console's four-year lifespan, and Microsoft is keen to point out that it achieved this in three years.

Meanwhile, Sony has sold "nearly 17 million" PlayStation 3 consoles in its first two years on sale, and Nintendo has sold around 35 million Wiis.

This July at E3 Don Mattrick said, "I'm willing to declare here today that Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than PS3."

Tomorrow Microsoft reboots the Xbox 360 interface with the launch of New Xbox Experience, which introduces a party system, the option to install games to hard disk and personal Avatars among other things.

Speaking to Eurogamer recently, Xbox Live product unit manager Jerry Johnson said that NXE was a way of making Xbox 360 more attractive to people who happen by.

"When this is turned on in the household, the other person who walks by is going to see things and understand how to do some of these things," he said. "So I think it's taking that hardcore and almost making them evangelists just by the fact they're using this UI."