Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are vying for the most headlines at this year's Consumer Electronic Show (CES) currently underway in Las Vegas.  

Nintendo was first out of the gates with its announcement that it has sold over 3 million Nintendo Wii consoles in the US in the run up to the 209 Christmas holiday. Sony countered on Wednesday with its own announcement that they've sold over 3.8 million PlayStation 3 consoles worldwide during the festive season. 

According to Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer the company has now sold more than 39 million Xbox 360 consoles and over 500 million games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles to date. This amounts to around $20 billion (approx. R147 billion) in terms of retail sales.

Ballmer also announced that the highly anticipated Project Natal will launch in the US in November. The Natal sensor device brings together a depth sensor, an RGB camera, a sensor for your voice commands and a processor to track your movement in 3D, meaning you will no longer have to use your controller to play certain games. Ballmer didn’t elaborate on how much the sensor will set users back or in which other countries the November launch will take place.