360 breaks 5 million, nabs lead in Europe, says MS

Remember last month when Sony claimed that the PS3 had surpassed the Xbox 360 in Europe? The battle of the numbers continues today as European VP of strategic marketing for interactive entertainment at Microsoft EMEA (say that three times fast) David Gosen let it be known that the Xbox 360 has sold more than 5 million units in Europe, "well over" 5 million in fact. He also puts a stop to Sony's shenanigans -- assuming his word is better than Sony's anyway -- by noting that the Xbox 360 is actually "at least, if not more than, three quarters of a million ahead of PS3." Gosen also takes issue with analysts' claims that 360 sales have slowed in Europe saying, "If we look at the momentum in the business in the last few months, the trajectory has changed significantly," adding that analysts should "check their numbers."

Ooh, did you hear that analysts? Burn!