Microsoft said a year ago that Kinect had sold more than 10 million units, and the Xbox 360 had sold 57.6 million units as of Sept. 30. That means Microsoft sold nearly 10 million units during the fourth quarter.
Ballmer said he was proud about the progress Microsoft has made in video games and that it was a case of the company at its best, marshaling a lot of resources behind a big idea and executing over the course of a decade.
“Did I expect this to happen 10 years ago?” Ballmer said. “I bet on this 10 years ago.”
Microsoft showed a new Kinect application where children could take a Sesame Street TV episode and integrate it into a two-way interactive playground. That application is coming later this year. Ballmer said that Kinect will now come to Windows in a couple of weeks on Feb. 1. He said the company was working with 200 companies to bring cool motion-sensing apps to the PC.
Microsoft showed off the Metro-inspired new Xbox Live user interface, which now has dozens of entertainment options. Fox will be a new partner, making its various entertainment properties available on Xbox Live. Those range from IGN to the Fox News Channel.
[Top photo credit: Sean Ludwig]