When Microsoft introduced the Xbox 360 in November of 2005, it killed off the original Xbox, a decision that contrasted with Sony’s strategy to keep supporting the PlayStation 2 even as it threw most of its marketing muscle behind the new PlayStation 3.

That meant the Xbox fell quickly off the sales charts and video game makers stopped producing titles for the machine in order to focus on the Xbox 360.

So it was a bit of a surprise to see the latest NPD data for video game sales for the month of August. It turns out that Electronic Arts figured there were still enough people playing the original Xbox to justify making a version of “Madden NFL 08″ for it.

It looks like it was a smart move. According to NPD numbers provided by Microsoft, the Xbox version of “Madden” sold 122,000 copies, making it the 11th best-selling game for the month. That beat “Madden” for Nintendo’s Wii, which sold almost 116,000 copies.

Oh, and it looks like there are still a few big black-and-green boxes trickling out of warehouses: Microsoft sold no fewer than 80 Xboxes in August.

(Photo of original Xbox from Microsoft’s Xbox.com site)

Source:http://www.topix.net