Xbox One sets Aussie sales record

Microsoft’s latest console release, Xbox One, more than doubled the previous Australian sales record for a console during launch week.

The Xbox One, which was launched on November 22, registered 65,917 unit sales in its first three days. NDP Group Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) video games account manager, Luis Gil, confirmed the figures released by the point-of-sale (POS) data tracking company.

“Xbox One now also holds the record for the highest console sales in launch week, more than doubling Nintendo Wii’s previous record of 32,900 units,” Gil said.

Microsoft Australia’s interactive entertainment lead, Jeremy Hinton, claimed the company had experienced unprecedented demand for the new console and attributed this to the combination of gaming and entertainment that the Xbox One promises.

"Xbox One is the only all-in-one games and entertainment system and we're excited to see that Australians have embraced the new generation,” Hinton said.

The next generation console (as well as Sony's PlayStation 4) had been highly anticipated by consumers with almost eight years since the release of the last generation in Australia.

The success of the previous generation Xbox 360 over its main rival the PlayStation 3 (PS3) was attributed to factors such as an earlier release date (beating Sony by eight months) and a lower price of $499.95 for the core system compared to $829.95 for the equivalent PS3.