1 million Xbox 360s sold 'œdown under', celebs pile in for charity auction

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 19 April 2010 13:40

Your IT - Entertainment

Microsoft has finally crossed the 'magic 1 million mark' of Xbox 360 sales in Australia and New Zealand, and is celebrating with a special series of charity auctions to help a local children's charity, but while the number sold is definitely noteworthy, one can only wonder how many of those Xbox 360s are still working following the RRoD scandal.

Microsoft has certainly done well to sell over 1 million Xbox 360s in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), with Microsoft seemingly counting 'down under' as including New Zealand, something that might surprise both Australians and New Zealanders.

New Zealanders are, of course, down under too, but from an Aussie's point of view they're 'down under over there a bit' and honestly, unless I've spent too much time in front of this computer, I've never really heard New Zealanders refer to themselves as being 'down under' - they usually refer to Australians as living on their 'west island'.

But let's not that get in the way of a good headline, as 1 million is a nice round figure that would make any console maker proud when looking at sales for ANZ, a region that has a combined population less than one tenth of that in the US. We can also temporarily forget that not all of those 1 million consoles are still likely to be working following the RRoD scandal, but hey, that's now in the past, with 7-figure sales of the Xbox in the ANZ region still pretty amazing.

So, to move right along after making mention of those unruly red rings, Microsoft has decided to celebrate this 'milestone moment' with an 'Xbox Konsoles for Kids Charity Auction' will be held online, to auction off 'unique, one-of-a-kind consoles to raise money for local charity, the David Peachey Foundation (the DPF).

Pulling out some of its big guns (beyond those found on Halo's Master Chief), Microsoft has tapped a range of "A-list celebrities", including international pop star Kelly Rowland (who is currently visiting Australia) to airbrush and signed their own Xbox 360 consoles for auction.

Rowland said that: 'It's great to be here to celebrate with Xbox, one million consoles sold is huge! What better way to celebrate the one million milestone than by raising money for a great cause, the David Peachey Foundation. All the one-of-a-kind consoles look awesome, so get bidding Australia!'

Other A-List celebrities taking part in the airbrushed auction event include Russell Crowe, Jennifer Hawkins, Kim Kardashian, Hugh Jackman, Tim Cahill, Usain Bolt, Hamish and Andy, Jamie Oliver, Slash, Harry Kewell, Mark Webber, Elle McPherson, Sass and Bide, with each console sold off over a five week period, among other A-listers yet to be announced.

There's also a 'unique Halo console designed by Oscar-winning, Richard Taylor of New Zealand's Weta Workshop and a 'Crystal' console, boasting more than 10,000 semi-precious stones', with plenty more detail on the auction, the consoles and images at the Xbox Charity Auction eBay site.

Continued on page two, please read on!