Looks like Microsoft weathered the first “oh God will we sell any Xbox 360s in this economy?” storm last week, and then some. Redmond sold 25 percent more Xboxen this Black Friday weekend then it did last year, which was well before the general public had their 401(k)s on their mind. The Xbox 360, we’re told, outsold the PS3 by a three-to-one ratio, which isn’t exactly surprising. Outside of being an inexpensive Blu-ray player—a really inexpensive Blu-ray player if your credit is still good—can you name three reasons to buy a PS3? Outside of Metal Gear Solid 4 and LittleBigPlanet, I’m struggling.
Notice, though, that Microsoft doesn’t even so much as mention the Wii, with the possible exception of this allusion offered by some senior vice president:
We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market
You could make that argument, I guess. The Xbox 360 Arcade is $199.99, plus the yearly subscription to Xbox Live ($49.99) you’ll need to make it all the more “social.” You’ll also need at least a game. So that’s a minimum of $300, which is the same price as a Wii and one game (give or take). Except that, in social situations, outside of Rock Band (which is available for every system), the Wii is seen as the “social” system.
In conclusion, Microsoft sold a lot of Xbox 360s last week.