Despite recent problems with its Xbox Live online service, Microsoft had strong sales of its video game console over the holiday season, and they are once again showcasing their progress for the year stating that to this point they have moved 17.7 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide, with 4.3 million consoles sold in the last three months of 2007.

However, Microsoft said it was disappointed with issues surrounding its online gaming service and it plans to compensate all Xbox Live members (both Gold and Silver) with a free Xbox Live Arcade title. According to Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten, the problems were a result of a “massive increase in usage” of the Xbox Live service, with the holiday season seeing a number of Xbox Live records broken.

Although specific figures were not provided, Microsoft also claimed that the company kept its lead over Nintendo and Sony in terms of money spent on hardware and software. Nintendo and Sony have not released holiday sales figures for their machines as of yet, but by end-September, about 13.2 million Wiis and 5.6 million PS3s had been sold globally.