Have you seen this man?

Just shy of the two and half year anniversary since unleashing their next-generation Xbox 360 console unto the world, Microsoft is pleased to announce to the world that their games division is putting up some serious, McDonalds-like numbers. Well, if not billions then certainly millions...as in ten million served. In the United States. Now put some McDonald's (double cheeseburgers, please) and Xbox 360 consoles in the same room and you've got the stuff Friday night parties are made of. To some of us, anyway...

All jokes aside, congratulations are in order for Xbox 360 parent company Microsoft and their steady success in the United States. With sales of their HD-equipped console exceeding sales of 10 million in the states alone, the company spawned by Bill Gates can now lay claim to an impressive 19 million global tally. Microsoft has long stood by their clairvoyant stance that the first company to reach 10 million console sales would win the generation battle, although that's a phrase that's needed a few upgrades since its introduction. While Microsoft was indeed the first next-generation console to reach the 10 million milestone, a bit of online unpleasantness was aroused when the company, usually the very definition of modest, announced in their official press-release that the 360's "U.S. install base contributes to global sales of over 19 million, more than any other current-generation console."

Only it wasn't, as super-blog Kotaku was quick to point out, having reached out to Microsoft personally was soundly greeted with this clarification: "[the] Xbox 360 has the largest global install base of any current gen high definition gaming console." You'd think for a company so enamored with the very DNA of the HD-concept itself would have bothered to fact-check their press-release for its standard quota of the term itself. Oopsie.

Goofs aside, the numbers are starting to look positive for Microsoft, having spent nearly the entirety of their existence in the console videogame world hemorrhaging money and fighting for second-place status against the once-dominant Sony, as things are finally starting to stabilize. The Xbox 360 can now lay claim to being part of not one, but two of the largest entertainment roll-outs in history with the launches of Halo 3 ($300 million global) and Grand Theft Auto 4 ($500 million global). The 360 can also claim the most critically-acclaimed software line-up (cumulatively) with the Metacritic aggregate site listing the Xbox 360 with 91 titles featuring a median score of 80 or higher (compared to 50 for the PlayStation 3 and 22 for the Wii). With more platinum-selling releases for Microsoft's console (and a guaranteed-smash 2008 Fall Season planned) than either competing next-generation system, there's plenty for fans of the glowing green-lit system to be excited about.

But what's the brass to say about the mother of all Xbox Achievements? Billy Pidgeon, research manager at the crazy-cool Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft (incredibly, IDC for short) lays it out for us:

"Reaching an installed base of ten million consoles in the U.S. is a significant achievement and an essential milestone on the road to market leadership. Perhaps more important is the worldwide online base - twelve million Xbox LIVE gamers is the largest community in the connected console games sector, which represents the greatest growth opportunity in the console market and where Microsoft has been the leader for two generations,"

So while it certainly hasn't been the easiest sailing for Microsoft and their entry into the always-entertaining world of console gaming, as goes the money goes the success. From the bad publicity of the embarrassing RROD (Red Ring of Death) scenario to the early-death of the Microsoft supported HD-DVD format, Xbox Live outages to losing Xbox President Peter Moore to third-party conglomerate EA, this generation of Xbox consoles hasn't been without its stumbles. But like a good soldier, the company has been remarkably resilient and has proven themselves a viable presence outside the world of operating systems and office software. The future remains bright for the Redmond, WA company, just so long as they keep the noses clean and the hits coming.

Microsoft's tally of 19 million global sales of the Xbox 360 console is still mighty impressive, unquestionably leading the next-generation HD-equipped console race to the Sony PlayStation 3's global tally of 9.2 million, but still trailing Nintendo's motion-controlled phenomenon Wii console at 24.45 million. The Xbox 360 console was first released to the public November 2005, with its two next-generation competitors showing up exactly one year later in November 2006.