After Sony’s recent sales announcement Microsoft has just issued a boastful statement of its own.

Okay, the initial press release reveals that the Xbox 360 is the first console to reach 10 million sales in the US for this generation of consoles, and has amassed a cool 19 million sales globally. Meanwhile membership of Xbox LIVE has now exceeded 12 million. All good, right?

You’d think so, and the figures seem to justify Microsoft’s claims that the 360 is “leading the charge in the US and abroad.” and that “…the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle.”

Alas, such big talk is rather undone by the bald and apparently unpalatable factlet that Nintendo’s already beaten them to the magic 10 million with the Wii, which, as Kotaku is quick to remind us, stands at 10.6 million in the US and a staggering 24.45 million globally. Microsoft has been forced to clarify their statement as a result, saying that its statement relates to “current gen high definition consoles” rather than current-gen offerings on the whole.

It’s all a bit embarrassing. Highly annoying for Nintendo too, we shouldn’t wonder – after all, why do Microsoft and Sony persist with this notion that the Wii is not a next-gen console? Sure the Wii's graphics don’t pack the punch of the PS3 and the 360, but gameplay is on a par and the motion-sensing interface is nothing if not futuristic. Hmmm, mindful of the Wii’s massive sales success and mainstream appeal we’re tasting sour grapes…

Meanwhile the Xbox 360’s attach-rate really is market-leading, with seven games bought for each console. We can name a couple of rival manufacturers who’d like a slice of that kind of action…