Microsoft has put out an item on PRNewsWire claiming that more Xboxes have been sold than GameCubes, and asserting that it, and not the GameCube, is the best launch ever:

Ferrex pointed out a couple of URLs on RampancyHL that point to silly statistics offered by IGN's GameCube and Xbox sites. Both refer to the exact same report by Credit Suisse First Boston, yet each conclude that their respective console is winning the war.

IGN Cube reports:

Have you wondered about Microsoft's stance on the Xbox Gateway and GameSpy Arcade Tunnel software that enables online play for the Xbox? Surprisingly, they are for it. Taken from the Xbox FAQ:

Another Halo review has seen the light of day, this time at 123 Xbox. Halo got near-perfect scores in every category; in fact, its lowest score was 9.7 out of 10 in the life cycle rubric. Overall, Halo scored 9.8 out of 10. (Thanks HBO)

PlanetXbox is reporting that The NPD Group has stated the Xbox and Halo are selling tremendously well. PlanetXbox's story reads:

Gamers.com has reviewed Halo, who I gather liked the game since they called it the best first person shooter ever . Going on:

Halo has been reviewed by The Entertainment Depot, who found it to be an excellent title. Ryan Newman writes one of Halo's more critical reviews, but in the end he finds it to be a fantastic title:

GameZilla has reviewed Halo. Overall another extremely positive review, GameZilla closed with this:

Louis Wu posted over at HBO that Edge Magazine has given Halo a perfect 10 out of 10 rating. Halo is only the fourth game ever to receive such a rating from that publication. Note: The current issue with the review in it is not yet online.

There's a Halo review up at Invisible Dream now, and like many of the other reviews, the pros and cons are the same: the graphics and sounds are great, missing netplay is a sore spot. They also weren't nuts about how weapons and vehicles were used, feeling there should have been more vehicular combat, as well as greater variety:

Ferrex pointed out to us on RampancyHL an ie Magazine article of interest for those following the console wars. Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) has published a report with some details of the Xbox sales in the first week after launch:

The denizens of the forum at Icrontic are busy hacking away at their Xboxes. I'm not nearly 1337 enough to understand everything that's going on over there, but those of you interested in the inner workings of MS's console extraordinaire might want to stop on by and take a peek. Thanks Xboxweb.

Elizabeth at Xbox365 has posted a few thoughts about Halo and the fact that it's probably the most popular game in their offices right now:

Bungie's own Community Guy, Matt Soell, has been interviewed on VoodooExtreme on how it feels now that Halo is finally finished. They cover lots of topics, from the visuals to the fans' expectations, not to mention the challenges of making an FPS game's controls feel natural on a console:

Quick on the heels of the announcement that XboxGW will allow Xbox users to play System Link games like Halo across the Internet, GameSpy Industries has announced that GameSpy Arcade is jumping into the fray with their own application, GameSpy Tunnel. They list Halo, Tony Hawk 2 and Nascar Heat 2000 as supported games.