14 DAY TRIAL // Barely has 2010 entered its last month and Microsoft is already boasting that this was the best year ever for the Xbox 360, and that profits are now through the roof, so the company can just lean back and see money roll in.
2010 was a pretty big year for gaming, and Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business boss, Dennis Durkin, has just revealed that it was the biggest one yet for the Xbox business.
"It's been a good three years for us," said Durkin. "We've had nice stair steps in terms of growth every year sequentially getting bigger than the previous year, and this year is going to be our biggest year ever."
This allows Microsoft to focus on increasing profits even more.
"I want to make money on things that we sell. I think the business of subsidizing things is a historical artifact. And so, for us, it's about making money and extracting value for the things that we're building."
With all the new things introduced this year, including a redesigned console, the Live Fall update and the Kinect peripheral, Microsoft is quite confident in the future.
"I think with the pieces that we have today now in our hardware platform, in our Live ecosystem, and now with Kinect, and the new input paradigm that you have with Kinect, we think we have a real opportunity to have a five to ten-year major growth spurt within our business and space."
Durkin already revealed last week that more than half of the Xbox Live users were paying for a Gold subscription, and that the company was making more money out of Xbox Live transactions than from subscriptions.
What do you think? Is this the best year for the Xbox 360 or is Microsoft looking back through rose-tinted glasses?
Share your thoughts about the console's performance, as well as how it handled itself as opposed to the PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii.