On the most recent episode of Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb's podcast, Microsoft man Aaron Greenberg listed the Ruffian Games-developed open world action game as a first-half of 2010 release. That's alongside games like Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake, and Mass Effect 2, a handful of exclusives that will populate an already pretty crowded first two quarters next year.

Show #344: VGA's, GH Van Halen, Borderlands and Splinter Cell Conviction [Major Nelson]

Next year will see the release of Final Fantasy XIII in the West, God of War III, Gran Turismo 5, Mass Effect 2 and StarCraft II. "I feel confident that there's nothing that will compare in size," Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg told website Gamasutra. "Halo: Reach will be the biggest game of 2010."

All of those title are big, big games.

But Halo: Reach will eclipse them all, Microsoft says. Agree? Disagree? Discuss!

Microsoft's Greenberg Promises 'Halo: Reach Will Be The Biggest Game Of 2010' [Gamasutra via 1Up]

Greenberg didn't put a specific figure to the console's sales from the Thanksgiving/Black Friday week as Nintendo did earlier today. But the increasingly svelte Xbox 360 spokesman did write that last week's numbers were "more than [two times the] previous week sales."

We'll see if Microsoft can top 2008, when the Xbox 360 maker claimed it outsold its PlayStation 3 competition three-to-one.

"What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation," Greenberg told Game Informer. "It is similar to a game of baseball, it is not about just winning one inning, but instead being able to win the game by consistently delivering across all nine innings." Wonder what inning we're in now...

Previously Greenberg has discussed the price cut sales spikes, stating that he thought they were short term.

"I actually think the story here is about much more than just hardware sales," Greenberg continued to GI. "It's about the entire ecosystem and investing in the future; something we are very focused on. There is also the whole financial side of the equation that people rarely seem to pay attention to."

Interested in extra innings? Full interview with Greenberg in the link below.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg Looks To Holiday, Beyond [GameInformer] [Pic]

But how long does that sales increase last?

"I don't believe the price cuts that both companies have made will impact the market dynamics too dramatically in the long term," says Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg. "We typically see a month or two of lifts and share adjustments, but then things tend to settle back to roughly the established market ranking."

Microsoft expects these lower price points will bring into more consumers — who might have been hesitant to purchase a console because of the cost.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg Interview [Eurogamer]

"We feel like our system has done very well for us in the current form," said Greenberg, director of product management for the Xbox 360. "We have no plans for a slim."

Instead of reinventing the outside of the console, Greenberg says that Microsoft is intent on continuing to reinvent the way people use their system.

That includes things like adding the ability to stream movies through NetFlix, the upcoming addition of Facebook, Last.FM and Twitter connectivity. Greenberg also points out that Microsoft's motion-detecting Project Natal, an interface he calls very next generation, is coming to this generations console.

"We feel that we're not even at the halfway point (of the Xbox 360's life cycle)," he said. "That is something we believe in strongly. People have invested in these consoles, and we have massively connected communities and we have storage. I think what we did with the New Xbox Experience is a sign of what we want to do with the console."

"The Xbox 360 has plenty of future."

It's been nearly four years since the Xbox 360 released. If we're not even at the halfway point of the console's life cycle it sounds like the Xbox 360 will indeed be around for ten years.

I can imagine that eventually platform holders will get to a console that never needs to be replaced. It will be a system that can rely on firmware updates to bring new interactions to gamers.

The question is, is this that generation? My guess is no. But I think that the extension of this cycle certainly points to such a platform eventually arriving.

While Ballmer's casual mention of a new Xbox 360 hardware iteration at the Executive's Club of Chicago seemingly confirms a rumor originating from 1UP, Microsoft's Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku "There will be no new console."

"We're not going to be launching a new console any time soon," Greenberg said during a phone call today. "I really believe he was speaking about Project Natal."

"We want to make sure people know that we're excited about Project Natal," Greenberg noted, "But we're barely halfway through this generation. We're happy with the Xbox 360, so there are no changes from that standpoint. For the time being, we're really just showing a whole new category of gaming."

Asked if Microsoft was at least considering putting the hands-free motion controller technology into a new Xbox 360 configuration, Greenberg said "Yes, we have looked at that, but we haven't announced any details for something like that."

Nor has the company announced a ship date or final name for the motion-sensing camera tech it debuted at E3 2009, Greenberg added.

"We are saying that the Natal will run on the Xbox 360, so there's no new hardware to purchase," Greenberg said, reiterating the company's position on its current generation platform. "What we're doing that's unique is, instead of asking you to invest in a new generation of hardware, a generation that's already well established, extending the experience even longer by adding this whole new category of experiences with Project Natal."

"We're changing the rules a little bit just like we did with the New Xbox Experience," he said.

We've requested a transcript of Mr. Ballmer's speech from Executive's Club of Chicago and will follow up when and if it becomes available.

Xbox director of product management Aaron Greenberg has told Eurogamer "I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation. With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary."

Seems to pour cold water on the suggestion that it would be an all-new console. But you know what? With these PR statements, the devil is in the detail.

On Friday we toned down the speculation a dial, and figured that were a new console to launch next year alongside the camera, it would simply be a rebranded, repackaged Xbox 360. A 360 slim, if you will. Greenberg's vague statement leaves that possibility wide open.

Microsoft sources play down reports of new Xbox in 2010 [Eurogamer]

Contributing to a Gamasutra piece on achievements, Greenberg revealed that, as of this month, there have been 2.5 billion achievements unlocked by the Xbox Live user base.

They all add up to a whopping 52 billion gamerscore points. Or, if you break that down across the install base, around 150 achievements per user.

Unlocking Achievements: Rewarding Skill With Player Incentives [Gamasutra]

While Microsoft pegged a low percentage rate of system failure in the early moments of the Xbox 360's launch, the numbers of customers suddenly experiencing the system failure continued to rise. A class action lawsuit was filed in California in late 2008, and earlier that same year Microsoft extended the Xbox 360's warranty.

Those days of hardware headaches are a thing of the past says Microsoft exec Aaron Greenberg. "We've improved that [repair] process," he told game Edge. It's very quick, and they may upgrade your system with the latest technology. So that works really well."

"What it comes down to is isolating and figuring out the issue," Greenberg added, "fixing the issue, and the more that we can fix the issue, and know it's fixed, then we're good going forward. We've put the worst behind us on this, but we know there are a few lagging systems, and so we want to take those and make it right."

Can Gamers Stop Worrying About Red Rings? [Edge Online via VG247] [Pic]

How can that be? Surely both mouthpieces, whether they're boasting "official leadership in this industry" or whether they're claiming the other is "out of touch with where the industry and consumer is today" can't find common ground. Or can they? Pachter speaks!

"Aaron Greenberg is right that Sony likely won't catch Microsoft in the U.S. until at least 2014. Kaz is right that Sony will likely catch Microsoft globally," said Pachter. 2014! That's probably not what Sony's thinking.

Mr. P puts both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in a "dead heat" by 2011, according to his comments to GameDaily. He also points out Sony's besting of Microsoft in Japan year after year, as reason why this global fight isn't quite over.

The analyst expects that upcoming price drops from Sony on the PS3 will certainly help the console's chances.

Pachter: Aaron Greenberg and Kaz Hirai Are Both Right [GameDaily]

Not liking what he's read, Greenberg does not politely rebuff the Sony man's point of view. He does not choose to ignore the man. No, he bares his corporate fangs, 2006-style, and goes straight for the FACE, Peter Dille-style. Face-biting is messy (as is making up a face milkshake!), so please, excuse the blood.

Here's what the Microsoft man told The Bitbag:

This sounds like an old hardware company that’s comfortable with its market position. That complacent attitude is out of touch with where the industry and consumer is today. This generation won’t be won over just hardware specs, but who can out-innovate when it comes to online and software. This is the kind of stuff that’s in our DNA, and frankly moves the console war onto our home court.

I’m confident we will outsell the PS3 throughout the entire generation by providing more innovation and building the best and broadest games library while growing our entertainment experiences on the leading online network. With a U.S. install base lead now of more than 7 million units (according to NPD), I can’t imagine any scenario where the PS3 can catch up with us. In fact, even if you doubled the current PS3 sales and Xbox 360 remained flat, they couldn’t close the gap until 2014.

Please, Aaron, tell us what you really think!

Aaron Greenberg Responds To Statements Made By Kaz Hirai [The Bitbag, via VG247]

While Greenberg was appropriately coy about the Xbox 360's upcoming line-up beyond what has been announced — yes, there are more games coming for the thing — he didn't shy away from talking about the numbers war between Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, specifically Sony's claims that it too has 17 million accounts.

Read on for a taste of what Greenberg had to say about Microsoft's plans for the Xbox.

What are you getting out of CES, Xbox-wise this year?

Greenberg: CES this year was, I think, the main focus was about Windows 7. We definitely took a back seat from a Microsoft corporate standpoint.

It's not a show where you get a lot of big game news. But it is interesting to see what's happening in technology, what innovative things are going on. For us, we usually talk a lot about how things are going to work and integrate across the company and I thought Windows 7 looked pretty good... even though I know Kotaku is a Mac house.

Well, Crecente is a die hard Windows guy. He's has a deep Apple hatred.

Greenberg: But does he even turn on his computer? I mean, that guy's gotta be laying in a bed, being fed grapes...

No, he's on his computer all the time.

Greenberg: Yeah, so I thought the stuff we showed with Kodu was neat. Having the 12-year old girl [on stage] was fun.

An actual 12-year old girl.

Greenberg: Yeah. We were going to go with a 12-year old Avatar, but we thought if we could get a real person, that would be more entertaining.

Obviously at CES there aren't a lot of four year old pieces of technology being shown, but clearly you're keeping it fresh with software updates like the New Xbox Experience. Do you ever see yourselves doing something on this level again with the 360? Do you see another NXE style revamp like that in the console's future?

Greenberg: It's an interesting question. When we approached the NXE, we really thought about it as if we were launching an entirely new console. When we started thinking about all the changes and possibilities, at first we thought 'Well, we'll update this, change that.'

Then we thought, well, 'What if we just completely wiped the slate clean and completely reinvent the console from the ground up?' It was a pretty massive undertaking, a massive amount of work and we've been very happy with the results.

But it's kind of hard to think about if we would do something on that level again. It's hard to say what this will feel like, two, three, four years from now, but right now it feels like we're definitely on the cutting edge. We've designed it so we can continuously update it with new features, so I think we'll be able to keep up and fine tune based on feedback from the community.

When did you start the NXE project?

Greenberg: The Live team, as soon as we launched the console, were always working on new tech and new updates, but this project has been in development for years. There wasn't a specific day where we just said "Let's go."

When are we going to hear more about the 2009 line-up?

Greenberg: We take a different kind of approach to how we unveil news throughout the year than other platform publishers. We tend to talk about products a little closer to when they're ready. Last year at CES we didn't talk a lot about our holiday line-up, we waited until July.

We absolutely have a lot of innovation, we have new first and third-party games coming out this holiday that we have not announced yet. We'll probably wait until later in the year to talk about those.

The team that built the NXE is a massive team that's working on things like Xbox Live Primetime in the Spring, but new stuff, new partnerships, new content and things that we'll be announcing throughout the year. So stay tuned. There's a lot coming, for sure.

In the past couple years, there seem to have been some noticeable endeavors to secure specific game content, like role-playing game content tailored for the Japanese market and last year, more non-core products like Lips, Scene It and You're In the Movies. What's the philosophy in 2009 to expand the Xbox 360 market?

Greenberg: I think what we'll see is, as a result of how 2008 shaped up — the fact that we had our biggest year in history and we're now expanding our lead over the PS3 in a global basis — we went into 2008 with a solid lead over PS3 in North America, but Europe was a much closer race. Now, we're really expanding our lead there. We've become, by far, the lead global platform for third parties. I think you'll see us getting some benefits from that.

Historically, third parties would give us great support and lead developed on our platform, but they would say "In Europe, we have to still support the PS3" but now that that has switched, I think you'll see us get some benefits from that.

I also think we'll have our first full year at mass market price points. We saw a lot of success this holiday as a result of that. I think this is a year where the masses really come into the industry. We know that the PlayStation 2 sold 75% of their systems below $200. The vast majority of those consumers still have not upgraded yet. So I think it's the year where those consumers go into the store and start making purchases. We think that will benefit us tremendously in 2009. Us having the largest community of core gamers is going to drive blockbuster and core games as well.

You talked earlier about the economy, what concession is Microsoft going to make. I know you're comfortable with the price point at $199, but are you going to do something on the games front to lure in that more price conscious consumer?

Greenberg: Well, we've invested pretty heavily in our Platinum Hits program and we'll grow that, absolutely. We want consumers to have a great library of value titles, particularly new consumers that are more price sensitive. We've expanded that to Xbox Live Arcade and we've started discounting and promoting Marketplace content as well. I think we've gotten more aggressive about offering value. We're also going to add a lot more value into the console by adding new content, new partners, new functionality, just like what we did with Netflix, the New Xbox Experience, and Live Party.

Microsoft recently claimed 17 million Live users and 28 million Xbox 360s sold...

Greenberg: Active users.

Active. So what's the total of Live members that you've accumulated?

Greenberg: Uh... A significantly larger number than 17 million. To be clear, we are pretty conservative on how we report our members. It is active members — you have to own an Xbox 360 and if you're not active in the last six months, we recycle the gamertag and we remove your account. It is a true number of the people we have on the service.

I think it's important to note, if you compare those to PSN, those numbers you can have just a PSP, you can create an account on the Web. We don't count Web accounts.

You're an active member on PSN until you cancel an account. So, essentially forever. It's definitely apples to oranges when you compare those numbers.

"First, I would say we absolutely would not want to trade places with Sony," said Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360. "We feel like being half the price of the PS3 served us quite well this holiday."

"The fact that we're doing this at half the price of their platform, we feel confident that we're delivering great value," he added. "I believe that we deliver more value for games and entertainment than any other platform on the market."

Speaking to Greenberg at CES this morning, he expressed Microsoft's anticipation that the sub-$200 price point will give the Xbox 360 the majority of its sales. Greenberg namechecked Sony's success with the PlayStation 2 at the more mass market price, hoping to emulate its last-gen success.

"At the end of the day, consumers vote with their dollar," Greenberg said, adding that he expects to see Microsoft's console sales in December show growth over its 2007 performance, in anticipation of NPD sales data. "I don't think people take comparison grids into retail stores."

"I would rather talk about why you should buy our console than why you shouldn't buy the competitor's system."

We'll have more from our interview with Aaron Greenberg at CES later.

He tells Edge Online that Microsoft is planning on its console competition becoming more price competitive in 2009. Not really his call, obviously, but failing to plan means planning to fail, right?

"We absolutely expect the PS3 price drop to happen in the next couple of months," Greenberg said, following recent Microsoft sales boasting. "We're frankly surprised it's taken this long. I would expect they'd have to move on price, sooner than later, for sure."

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves disagrees. He says not to expect a price cut this Spring, sticking to the "value added" thing. With PlayStation 3s reportedly getting cheaper to make, we'd expect it sooner rather than later — "no plans" notwithstanding.

MS: 360 Life-to-Date Sales Hit 28m [Edge Online]

In anticipation of next week's NPD sales figures for the month of December, Microsoft's director of product management Aaron Greenberg told the Los Angeles Times that sales were ahead of the company's high-def competition... and widening.

Microsoft also whipped out its Xbox Live subscriber data numbers, hoping to impress the ladies. It puts Live membership at 17 million, with "a majority" of them being the Gold (read: paying) variety. Greenberg tells the Times that Live members have spent over a billion dollars with the service... almost enough to cover those big extended warranty bills.

Microsoft: Xbox 360 widens lead over PlayStation 3 [LA Times]

Not so, says Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360.

"We’ve built a lot of infrastructure, a lot of behind the curtain no one sees," he said. "This is something that Microsoft is good at.

"We are well prepared for the type of growth we expect this holiday."

And if things do go sideways, Greenberg promises that Microsoft will be prepared.

"We will have people standing by, more people on hand than we've ever had before," he said. "Knock on wood we will hopefully not have any issues."

"I don't think anyone anticipated the current economic situation," Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360 said. "We are fortunate to be able to lower our price on our products, offer a great value at a time when consumers are being much more picky. People are staying home more, people are making more family purchases than the past, devices that can deliver a variety of entertainment.

"I think that's benefited us tremendously, the fact that the Arcade (Xbox 360) is even cheaper than the Wii has helped us. We will continue to take our great price and add more value to it."

Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like that increased value could come from a drop in the price of Xbox Live, one of the few mainstays of the console that hasn't been reduced in price since its launch.

Greenberg calls Xbox Live Gold, which costs about $8 a month, an "upsale experience" and doesn't seem to think that gamers will be seeing a drop in its price anytime soon. (Live costs $50 if you pay for a year's membership up front)

"I think we have seen people are willing to pay for the premium experience," he said. "When they compare Live, even to Home, there is still a huge gap."

And Greenberg isn't a big fan of Sony's Home service, set to launch it's open beta tomorrow.

"What Home to me feels like is Second Life for hardcore gamers," he said, "it doesn’t feel like it broadens the experience and invites people in. When they unveiled it, it seemed innovative. I think what's happened is now here we are a couple of years later and we feel beyond that.

"It feels like 2005 tech in 2008. I'm not sure that’s what people want."

Xbox LIVE Marketplace sales have been up week over week since the New Xbox Experience hit three weeks ago, with movie downloads increasing 49 percent and TV episode downloads up 30 percent the week after launch. And, Greenberg said, Xbox LIVE Arcade sales almost tripled in the first week after the New Xbox Experience launch.

"We are seeing it as a sustained increase," Greenberg said.

Some games saw a bigger impact to sales than others did. In particular, Arcade titles Uno and A Kingdom for Keflings, both of which support in-game avatar use, saw tremendous jumps in sales.

"I think we are bringing a much broader audience into the experience," Greenberg said. "We've made the Xbox easier to navigate and that's resulted in people buying new content."

"We'll see over time how that plays out."

The new Xbox interface, which was rolled out on Nov. 19, comes as Xbox Live membership hits an all time high, currently more than 14 million active members online.

Those members, Greenberg said, are also much more active than they used to be. The number of new friends added per Xbox LIVE member has risen by 33 percent, since Nov. 19, and over the past year the average number of unique visitors to Live every day has risen 66 percent.

We spoke to Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, just after NPD sales numbers hit to get his take. Unsurprisingly, he seemed rather pleased with the company's recent hardware successes.

"We expect to continue our price advantage over the PlayStation 3 for a long time," Greenberg told us, pointing to the $199 price tag of the company's entry level Arcade console, assuming that Sony would issue no pre-holiday price drops. "And we feel confident that we'll outsell the PS3 this holiday season in North America and in Europe. We'll do it on a global scale."

As for what those consumers are picking up, Greenberg said "We've seen lifts across all consoles, but the Arcade is doing exceptionally well."

Microsoft touted a 42% increase, month to month, on NPD hardware sales data. Greenberg made sure to point out that the August survey period consisted of a four week month, with the September period five weeks long. That, Greenberg said, illustrated "flat growth" of the PlayStation 3.

Fanning the flames of the console war of words, Greenberg harped on the Xbox 360's abnormally high attach rate, which at 8.1 games per console, outpaces the PS3 by 2:1 and the Wii by 3:1. "And that doesn't include [Xbox Live Arcade] games," he boasted.

Okay, we get it. You're swimming in cash and exclusive and high attach rates. Good job. Is Xbox Live going to work this holiday season? Because it didn't last year. How prepared are you, Microsoft man? How will Live hold up?

"Hopefully, very well," Greenberg said "We've grown our team and our infrastructure over the past year." With the New Xbox Experience, Gears of War 2 and even more Live ready titles putting a strain on the service this holiday, we'll see, Aaron. We'll see.