Xbox 360 will outsell Sony's PS3: Microsoft
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said on Monday its Xbox 360 console will sell better than Sony Corp's (6758.T)(SNE.N) rival PlayStation 3 over the lifetime of the machines.
Microsoft also displayed a line-up of games to drive demand for the console, including "Gears of War 2," a much-anticipated sequel to its blockbuster science-fiction shooter game. It will debut exclusively for the Xbox 360 on November 7.
The company is locked in a three-way competition with Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS) Wii and the PlayStation 3, which comes with a high-definition Blu-ray video player. The Wii is the current leader, while Sony's PS2 was the winner of the last generation of consoles.
"Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than PlayStation 3," Don Mattrick, a senior vice president at Microsoft's Xbox division, said at a Microsoft news conference before the start of the E3 video game industry trade show.
Microsoft said Sunday it will cut the price of its best-selling Xbox 360 Pro with a 20-gigabyte hard drive to $299 from $349 while supplies last. In early August, it will introduce a new model with a 60-gigabyte hard drive for $349.
A cut to $299 makes the Xbox 360 Pro $100 less than one of the console's major rivals, Sony's PlayStation 3 with a 40-gigabyte hard drive. Microsoft said the Xbox 360 has outsold the PS3 in the United States by 5 million units.
Microsoft said it signed a deal to make TV shows and movies from NBC Universal available on its Xbox Live online platform. The company said a third of all paid content downloaded in the U.S. is movies and television shows.
It also announced a tie-up with movie rental company Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) to let Netflix subscribers watch streamed movies and TV shows on Xbox 360 game consoles starting this fall.
(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi and Kemp Powers; editing by John Wallace/Jeffrey Benkoe)
