Digital Home Thoughts: Xbox 360 Sales Hit the 30 Million Mark

"The number was reached after what MS is calling "the biggest year" in Xbox history - 2008 - which saw console growth swell up 28 percent. The Xbox Live community has grown to more than 20 million active members, it says, making it "the world's largest global entertainment network", putting the online service in more homes than "any satellite television provider". Before the end of the year, the number of Xbox Live members will surpass the number of subscribers to the largest cable provider, the company says."

There's no doubting that the Xbox 360 is one of Microsoft's most successful products in a market that was previously thought of as being "un-crackable" because the PS/2 had it all locked up. Then along came Microsoft, and Nintendo, and the market turned into a three-way death match. It's all good for consumers, giving us the choice of whichever technology suits us best. I'm still rocking my original Xbox 360 from November 2005 (man, that seems old!), with nary a red ring of death in sight. I sometimes wish it would die so I could get one of the newer, quieter, HDMI-based units - but it keeps on kicking.