Obviously that title doesn't refer to the Japanese market, though I'll admit that my inner fanboy would love to see that. Or maybe it's just the fact that it would make sense considering what the Xbox 360 has done this generation in terms of games and content, to be honest they’ve done a lot right. I'm of course referring to the fact that the Xbox 360 has outsold the OG Xbox (that stands for Original Generation Xbox, get used to that term) reaching over 25 million units sold worldwide.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that sales are better this time around, but it's still something to celebrate. Especially when you keep in mind the hardware woes that continue to plague the console, it's almost amazing. All of the backlash against the console boils down to internet hype, not that the story is just hype, but that seems to be where it's getting the most attention. Overall I'm actually glad to see this happen, it just plain makes sense.

Ending off the last generation I was much more of an Xbox player, but even as recently as a year ago I was still playing my PS2. It was Halo and Live that should be attributed to my switch but the death of my beloved OG Xbox was swift and fast. The console itself still works, but there's no reason to even have it. I own two Xbox 360's, a PS2 and a Wii. The OG Xbox's role as dvd player was short-lived, so now it just collects dust. The only reason I have it is because of the extensive case modding I did to the thing. So where will the 360 wind up? With reports that we could see a new iteration of the Xbox as early as 2010 (2009 for the unveil by some speculators) one has to wonder.

Will the 360 be abandoned by Microsoft and third party developers as quickly as the OG Xbox? What will that mean for the success of the 360 and the brand moving forward? The first console was a hardware powerhouse with some good games, the second can seemingly do it all and sports an impressive library of AAA titles, if a third comes too quickly and the second is cast aside it could be horrible for Microsoft. Hopefully that console, which I call X Cubed, won't be rushed and have the hardware failures, but will gamers really care? The 360 is impressive and if the stream of games continues I'm not sure that people will jump to a new generation. On the other hand if Sony jumps out of the gate first, which they won't, they could make up some ground. Most likely Nintendo will swoop in a continue riding off of the success of the Wii with the first console release of a generation Z console (I don’t know what to call it, so I went with Z).

So while I must praise Microsoft for their accomplishments, the struggle is far from over and will likely be a continually uphill battle. I'd assume they understand that but the arrogance that they've notoriously shown at times needs to continue to be kept in check. So by all means Microsoft, have a slice of that cake they're passing around the office to celebrate your accomplishments, but as soon as you're done eating get back to work. You've far from won this battle and it doesn't look like Sony or Nintendo is going anywhere, especially Nintendo as they're hugely successful right now.

PS-I still hate my Wii

News via Xbox360fanboy