Dean Takahashi managed to put his hand on an internal memo written by Microsoft games chief Don Mattrick to his PR staff for CES. Takahashi reprinted the memo in full on his Tech Talk Blog.
The memo kicks off by boasting last year's Xbox 360 success.
"While final sales numbers are still being collected, consumers in North America have spent over $3.5 billion dollars on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories. That's $1 billion more than consumers spent on the Wii, and $2 billion more than the PS3. When December data is added, we expect Xbox 360 in 2007 to have generated more calendar year revenue than any other gaming platform ever, including PS2 at its peak."
"In 2007 the best games in our industry were on our platform, driving better-than-expected sales results for both first and third party games:
- "Halo 3" sold 8.1 million units worldwide and logged over 1.5 billion multiplayer matches since launch â€" that's an average of 14 million matches a day
- "Mass Effect" sold 1.6 million units worldwide, after just five weeks on the market
- We expect at least seven different franchise titles to have sold in excess of one million units on Xbox 360, including "Halo 3," "Mass Effect," "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," "BioShock," "Assassin's Creed" and "Madden NFL 08""
"Xbox 360 titles have received the highest average review scores this generation according to Metacritic, with the majority of cross-platform titles posting higher review scores on Xbox 360 than PS3."
"We have the big blockbuster hits that everyone wanted to play. Of the top 20 best-selling titles in 2007 this generation, 13 were on Xbox 360, compared to seven on the Wii and zero on the PS3 according to NPD. "
"When you look at the best-reviewed games, consumers will find that Xbox 360 has more than double the number of titles (81) with a Metacritic score of 80 or higher than PS3 (40), and six times more than the Wii (13)."
Moving on to the new year, the memo states:
"In 2008 the hits will continue to come with exclusives including "Halo Wars," "Too Human," "Fable 2," Alan Wake," "Splinter Cell: Conviction," and several exciting yet-to-be-announced titles. Xbox 360 will be home to the next versions of great franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil, and we will continue to be the leading choice for sports fans, with the next editions of Madden and FIFA looking and playing better on our platform."
Mattrick didn't forget about Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
"We'll begin 2008 by adding even more high definition content to the video store on Xbox LIVE, which is already the largest on-demand library of HD content on the market.
Under our new agreement with the Disney-ABC Television Group, Xbox LIVE members in the US will get access to more than 500 hours of content from the ABC Television Network, ABC Family, ABC News, Disney Channel and Toon Disney, including hits like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. Past and current seasons will be available on-demand, with new episodes hitting the service the day after they air on television."
You can read the full memo through the link available in the downloads tab.
