MS is claiming that the sales of the Xbox360 have doubled over the past two weeks, outselling the PS3 two-to-one in Europe. According to the charts, it seems Euro sales have increased 214% in the past 14 days. This is directly because of the price cuts. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

LONDON - 30 September 2008 - New figures announced today by ChartTrack saw sales of the Microsoft® Xbox 360 increase by 214% in the last two weeks[1], outselling Sony’s PlayStation 3 by more than two-to-one and reaffirming its strong momentum in Europe in the wake of its recent reduction in estimated retail price (ERP).

According to Peter Molyneux, the man at the head of the Lion-head, so to speak, has stated that the parts of Fable II that are co-op were only really possible using Xbox Live. He claims to "love Live," and that the service has not even been fully exploited yet. We will see in just a few short weeks if he was right.

"What I would say, and this is not just me being the good company man, I'd say the thing I love about the 360 more than anything is nothing to do with the hardware, it's all to do with LIVE. LIVE is still underexploited for a game mechanic. Some of the stuff in Fable II we're doing with co-op is only possible because of the way that LIVE is structured. I love playing around with that stuff as a designer. Whereas PS3 doesn't seem to be quite so mature on that side. They haven't got quite the same infrastructure and service but, you know, yeah, I'd love to get games on every platform."

Just FYI, folks, on Monday, September 29, from 12am PST for up to 24 hours, Xbox Live will be down for "maintenance." Also, the My Xbox section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox.com forums will be read-only. This update is in preparation for the new Xbox OS, which will be available later this Fall. There will not be any visible updates or new features added, according to Nelson, so don't go looking once Live is back.

The Xbox360 price cut in Europe has apparently boosted sales almost 30%. The console has sold almost 6 million units since the cost was reduced. With games like Fable II and Gears of War 2 coming out for this Holiday season, MS is in a decent position in Europe, it seems.

Believe it or not, the project that was canceled at Ensemble Studios before they shut down was apparently a Halo MMO. The MMO word is super-overcrowded, so we think it is a good idea the project name came to fruition. This does not mean MS does not have designs on a Halo-themed MMO still, though.

According to Gamasutra, a new internal MS Game Studios job posting for a division called "Spawnpoint Studios," staffed partially by MS's Gears of War 2 team. GamaSutra surmises that this is the new name of the company's Halo team. Rumor mill for now, but it sounds plausible.

"Would you like to work on a next-generation project, built from the ground up in MGS / Spawnpoint Studios? We have a very strong team, currently responsible for Gears of War 2, starting a new project in a start-up like environment. This is a rare opportunity to work on a team of game industry experts tackling a new challenge."

According to Enterbrain, with the benefit of the price cut and the new bundle, as well as a major RPG release (Infinite Undiscovery), it seems the 360 has temporarily outsold the Wii. A pretty impressive achievement for the MS console, especially in Japan. We will see if it lasts.

In the first part of an interview today, Microsoft's Phil Spencer spoke with GamesIndustry and declared that MS Game Studios, the division Spencer heads, can produce titles that better anything Sony puts out first party. This is despite recently closing internal studios like Ensemble and FASA, barely waiting until their games are completed before dropping the hammer. Granted, the Xbox360 lineup for this Holiday Season is looking great, but Sony is stepping it up as well, do not forget.

"Let's start from the beginning of both consoles - PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 - which first party has had more success on their own platform? We have Gears, Halo, Forza, we're continuing to push existing IP while bringing new IP to market. I'll line up against Sony's first party any day,"

The second part of the Peter Moore interview is posted over at the Guardian UK, and it is chock full of interesting tales from Moore's time at Microsoft. Steve Balmer actually wanted Moore to buy Nintendo at one point, it seems, which is certainly an interesting fact to read about. Moore also talks about how he predicted the shift from Japan to the West in terms of gaming trends and sales. Check it out.

Tomorrow's releases on the Xbox Live Arcade are pretty boring, if you ask us. Domino Master and Feeding Frenzy 2 will be the full game releases for 800 MS points each. On top of that, there will be Ticket To Ride download content available for 400 MS points.