Following the Xbox 360 price drops announced by Microsoft for both Japan and North America, the firm’s VP of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick has spoken of his console’s chances of besting the competition this generation.

Speaking to BusinessWeek, Mattrick admitted “I'm not at a point where I can say we're going to beat Nintendo”, though did go on to add that Xbox 360 “will sell more consoles this generation than Sony”.

NPD figures say that Nintendo’s Wii has sold 11.4 million Wii consoles to date, with Microsoft trailing just behind on 10.7 million – though of course it must be remembered that Xbox 360 had a full year head start on Nintendo’s machine in the market. To date Sony has sold 5.1 million PS3s in the territory.

Global sales predictions by research firm IDC claim that by the end of 2008 Nintendo will have sold a massive 44.5 million Wiis – well ahead of Microsoft’s 27.7 million Xbox 360s and Sony’s 24.2 million PS3s.