Microsoft announced today that they have officially sold more than 10 million Xbox 360 consoles in the United States, with over 19 million sold worldwide since the product launched in late 2005. The Xbox 360 is the first console of this generation to reach the 10 million mark in the US, a very significant fact according to Don Mattrick, the VP of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, "History has shown us that the first company to reach ten million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry."

The press release has a few other statistics worth noting as well. First of all, the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV helped push the number of Xbox Live members to 12 million, which Microsoft claims is double what it was a year ago (it was at 7 million last July, so that sounds about right). On the software front, Microsoft boasts more than 16 games that have sold a million copies or more, which the company claims is twice as many as the Wii and more than the PS3 by a margin of 16:2 (so, 8:1 in other words). MS is also trumpeting the critical praise lavished on 360 games, noting that 91 Xbox 360 titles average 80 or higher on Metacritic, whereas the Wii and PS3 have 22 and 50 respectively.

Rosy numbers indeed, though that's to be expected from Microsoft PR. Some of the language is a little strange, like the 16:2 ratio, which sounds bigger than it is. Also, "more than 16" is a rather odd choice of words. Does that mean 17? 20? Enough PR dissection though. Such things are the pursuit of madmen. The point is that MS has sold over 10 million consoles in the US. Whether or not this milestone truly cements Microsoft's victory remains to be seen.

[Via Major Nelson]