“We’ve got triple-A exclusive blockbusters month after month this year. We had a great January – we outsold the PS3 by a pretty solid margin. We believe we will outsell the PS3 for the full year. We did in 2009,” Greenberg told Destructoid.

“Today, according to NPD we have roughly double the install base [of PS3],” he added. “We never underestimate our competition. We know they have a lot of great games. They are very formidable, they have a great history in this industry, but we believe that if you are a gamer and you want great games, we have more titles, we have more exclusives and we have the leading online community.

“And then being able to bring really completely innovative technology like Project Natal to market this holiday are all things that make us unique.”

This is a difficult period for Microsoft and the Xbox 360 as Sony has PS3 exclusives on the way such as Heavy Rain and God of War 3 to boost up the sales of its console. But on the other hand, Microsoft has the Halo: Reach Beta and Alan Wake to give to the world in May.

I’m pretty sure on which 2 titles you’d want to get your hands on.

Microsoft’s recent Ban Hammer has been swinging and smashing away and has resulted in around one million Xbox 360 consoles being banned from LIVE.

Ouch.

A statement from Microsoft read:

“Our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox LIVE community remains a top priority. All consumers should know that piracy is illegal, and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs, violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE.”

A Microsoft spokesperson told Kotaku:

“While we don’t comment on specific numbers, we have taken action against consoles that have been modified and were used to play pirated game discs.”

And most of the recent bans came from the years most hyped and anticipated game, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as soon as it was available trying to prevent those with a modded 360 from playing the new title online.

A few Xbox Live Gold subscribers recently got emails detailing a new reward program, that is being tested by Microsoft.  The program will give users small amounts of Microsoft points, simply for doing the things that all gold members do.  For example, resubscribing each month will net you 60 points, each time you do so.  Sure the rewards aren’t that great, but hey, they’re free!  Head on over to Xbox.com to see the list of rewards.

Xbox LIVE Director of Programming, Larry Hryb – who we all know as Major Nelson, has denied all reports that Microsoft has or is making plans to release a Blu-ray Accessory for its Xbox 360 console.

“During an interview yesterday, Steve Ballmer was asked about Blu-Ray and the Xbox 360. I wanted to clear something up,” read a post on Hryb’s blog. “Steve was referring to Blu-ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360.”

Hryb also added:

“In fact, the future of home entertainment starts very soon when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies. With a library of thousands of TV shows and movies to choose from, Xbox 360 owners can instantly watch the movies they want, when they want, in the highest form of high definition.”

There you go. Read it and accept it, Maul

Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE, Aaron Greenberg, has revealed that Microsoft expects the Xbox 360 to outsell the PS3 this calendar year, and over its entire lifetime.

After being asked if Microsoft was concerned by recent Wii and PS3 price cuts, Greenberg said:

“It is not a real concern to us – in fact, I can tell you to that when NPD releases September sales later today, we fully expect PlayStation 3 will come in as the console with the most units sold for the month. This is frankly not a real surprise to us or the analysts that follow this industry, as it is typical to see a short term bump following the introduction of new hardware and pricing into the marketplace.”

Greenberg also added:

“What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation. It is similar to a game of baseball, it is not about just winning one inning, but instead being able to win the game by consistently delivering across all nine innings.”

Microsoft Vice-President, Shane Kim, has had enough and will be retiring from Microsoft this autumn. Bad Times.

Shane Kim has been the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business for 19 years, so hes stepping down from his position so he has more time to spend with his family and friends.

Kim got to witness the release of many award winning blockbuster titles and franchises (Age of Empires, Gears of War, Fable, Forza Motorsport and Halo).

Phil Spencer has been promoted from his position as General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios to corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios.

Bye Kim! :’(

Microsoft’s 343 Industries has announced that Halo Waypoint, which is the new Xbox LIVE section for everything that is Halo, will be launched on the 5th November 2009.

“Nov 5. Mark it on your calendar. That’s when you will get your hands (or controllers) on Halo Waypoint. ” stated the Twitter.

Wapoint offers you Halo fans to access audio and video content, community features and you’ll also be able to follow your Halo career, following and keeping track of achievements, and other bits and bobs which aren’t directly tied to the Halo games.

Microsoft has told MCV information from a Xbox Press Release (this morning) indicating that the Facebook and Twitter Apps for the 360 will be available to only Xbox LIVE Gold Members, this is not true so don’t worry Silvers.

A spokesperson from Microsoft has said that the platform holder is “still formulating its plans”, for the integration of the social networks.

So this means that both Silver and Gold Members can post on each others walls, and pester each other with Tweets, on their 360 consoles, all they like.

Both Facebook and Twitter are expected to be released later this year.

Good Times.

The Xbox LIVE and Xbox 360 Director of Product Management, Aaron Greenberg, thinks the high failure rate of the Xbox 360 console is in the past and has been forgotten about (until now cause I just brought it up, but yeah…) but he is confident in the quality of the consoles which are being produced to date (today).

“I can tell you the consoles we’re making today have lower-heat chips and better cooling, and we’re seeing fantastic quality in those consoles today,” Greenberg told GameSpot. “That said, I know people have had issues with systems which were bought earlier in the life cycle and that’s part of the reason why we implemented our unprecedented three-year warranty for anyone who gets the three red-ring flashing light error or the E74 error.”

Adding…

“So I think we’ve made it clear we stand by the quality of our product and we will make it right by fixing the problem at no extra cost to you. But at the same time, we’ve been working hard to make improvements in the products we’re currently making, so I really feel like most of this is well behind us.”

Greenberg also told us the three year warranty that covers the dreaded Red-Ring/E74 Error (Evil!) will remain for all Xbox 360 consoles on the market and future consoles to be released.

Microsoft has decided to increase the price of its Xbox 360 Arcade console to £159.99. That’s a £30 increase and the price change will start on the 1st September 2009.

And if you thought that was bad, the arcade bundle will change even more as the five Xbox LIVE Arcade games that come with the bundle, will be removed.

The price increase was confirmed by the online retailer, ShopTo.net, who revealed they received the news this morning, directly from Microsoft. Which has been backed up by an anonymous independent retail chain source.

Unfortunately, the price increases won’t end at the Arcade Console, another retail source also said that the Xbox 360′s Accessories/Peripherals will have price increases, but only by a few pounds (£1, £2).