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Even with recent problems with its Xbox Live online service Microsoft had strong holiday sales of its video game console and kept its lead over competitors Nintendo and Sony.

Microsoft sold 4.3 million Xbox 360 game consoles in the last three months of 2007, boosted by popular titles such as "Halo 3" and "Mass Effect." Despite the success Microsoft said it was "disappointed" with issues surrounding its online gaming service and offered a free downloadable game to over 8 million global users of the network.

Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten said," As a result of this massive increase in usage we know that some of you experienced intermittent Xbox LIVE issues over the holiday break.  While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance."

Microsoft has sold a total of 17.7 million Xbox 360s since it first went on sale in late 2005. Previous sales figures from the company showed that 13.4 million consoles sold by the end of September.

Microsoft rivals include Nintendo's Wii console and Sony's PlayStation 3 console. Nintendo and Sony have not released holiday sales data for their consoles. At the end of September, around 13.2 million Wiis and 5.6 million PS3s had been sold worldwide.