MICROSOFT IS spending over four million pounds on its Christmas marketing push, matching the figure SCE UK has earmarked for its PlayStation 3 campaign.

The platform holder is inviting consumers to ‘jump in’ through a huge range of TV and other media promotions as the Christmas console hardware battle continues to heat up.

“We’re spending over £4 million in the UK this festive season talking about how, with over 300 games on Xbox 360 this Christmas, there really is something for everyone,” said Microsoft UK’s head of gaming and entertainment Stephen McGill. “Naturally a lot of this goes on advertising, the bulk of which is television that’s been running for a couple of weeks now and continues through the rest of the year.”

This year the Xbox campaign is focused on ‘bringing friends and families together’, with a TV advertising campaign in full swing already.

“The TV ad really sums up what Xbox is all about,’ added McGill. “Whilst we pride ourselves on offering the very best titles for a devoted gaming audience, we also have a number of titles that literally anyone can pick up and play. This campaign is all about our broadening message in the run-up to Christmas.”