Los Angeles (CA) – Microsoft says its Xbox 360 will eventually outsell both the PlayStation 3 globally.  Speaking at its Xbox press conference at the E3 gaming conference, Microsoft’s senior vice president of entertainment, Don Mattrick, said the Xbox 360 hardware was in “fantastic shape”.  He touted the consoles impressive installed base in the United States and made an interesting prediction.

Mattrick boldy declared reporters that the 360 would sell more consoles worldwide than the PS3.  According to May 2008 sales figures from the NPD market research group, the Xbox 360 sold 186,000 units in the United States.  The Wii sold 675,000 units in May, while Sony sold 208,700 PS3 consoles.

Of course monthly sales figures only show one side of the coin.  The installed base for all three consoles is probably a more important figure to back up to refute Mattrick’s claim.  So far the Xbox 360 has sold 10.3 million units in the United States or about 19 million globally.  The PlayStation 3 has approximately 4.4 million installed in the US and 13 million globally.  According to Nintendo’s financial results from Spring 2008, it has sold 24.45 million Wii consoles since the November 2006 launch.  The company predicts that it will sell 50 million consoles sold by the middle of next year.

In addition to Mattrick’s comments, several new games were announced for the Xbox 360 including Final Fantasy 13, Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3.  On the multimedia side, Microsoft appears to be positioning the 360 as a media hub and has partnered up with NBC Universal and Netflix to offer movies and television clips.

Correction July 16 2008 4:33 Pacific

We originally published the article with the title, "Microsoft exec says Xbox 360 will outsell the PS3 and Wii".  After carefully reviewing the press conference video, Mattrick doesn't mention the Wii in the prediction and his actual quote is, "I’m willing to declare here today that Xbox 360 will sell more consoles worldwide this generation than the PlayStation 3."

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