Worldwide Xbox 360 sales reach 17.7 million

Microsoft has announced that over 17.7 million Xbox 360 units have been sold worldwide since launch.

And updated sales figures for last year's Halo 3 reveal the game has shifted more than 8.1 million copies since launch on September 25.

The BioWare developed RPG Mass Effect has also seen impressive sales, with a total of 1.6 million units sold in just six weeks of release.

"Microsoft is proud of the contributions Xbox 360 is making to the gaming industry, and looks forward to an even more successful 2008," said the company in a statement.

Sales of the Xbox 360 are outpacing the original Xbox, with 17.7 million units sold in just over two years on the market, compared to the original Xbox which sold over 24 million units between November 2001 and May 2006.