Product management director of Xbox 360, Aaron Greenberg, has announced that the year 2008 - in spite of the sluggish economy - has been the "biggest year ever in Xbox history." On Monday, the company said that the sales of Xbox 360 topped 28 million units sold globally since the game console's launch in 2005.

The reported sales, suggesting a strong holiday showing for Microsoft, enlarged the lead of the Xbox over its closest rival Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 console - by the year-end, Xbox outpaced PS3 by over 8 million units in global unit sales.

Apparently, the strong sales of Xbox 360s were helped by lower prices and new more consistent models, which led to an almost doubled market share in some significant territories. However, Xbox is still far behind Nintendo's Wii - which has sold more than 40 million units globally by various accounts.

As per the opinion of Greenberg, "The $199 price point of the Xbox 360 was really critical to our success this holiday." This price of Microsoft's entry-level console in the US is $50 less than Nintendo's Wii console.

According to company sources, Xbox Live had its busiest week ever, between Christmas and New Year's Day, with more than 1.4 million simultaneous members online. On of the new features that increased its popularity was Microsoft's new Netflix movie-streaming service. It is estimated that consumers have spent over $1 billion on Xbox Live online service since its launch.