Things have been a bit slow on the Xbox 360 of late.  With Vista launching into retail outlets during the last days of January, Microsoft has only really unveiled its “super premium” and largely unnecessary black Xbox 360 Elite, a product unlikely to revolutionize the console market.  Instead, it seems the company’s interests have predominantly been in the operating system business, and it shows; although Microsoft earnings climbed an impressive 65% overall, its Xbox 360 division saw a significant sag over the same period

Just how bad was it?

According to reports, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, responsible for everything from Windows games to the Zune (but predominantly dependant upon the Xbox 360) dropped 21% in quarterly revenue.  It finished under the $1 billion mark, at $929 million.

It seems the company expected the plummet, at least, according to Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell.  Although he provided no real reason for the problems, the CFO assured the media that Microsoft would still meet targets of 1 million Zunes and 12 million Xbox 360s by the end of the next period, June 30.

Although Microsoft isn’t providing any insight into the Xbox 360’s current state of affairs, sales statistics from the Big N may be the answer.  With nearly 6 million Wii consoles sold (despite a magnificently painful shortage), the system is now paced to blow by the Xbox 360 within a year.  After calculating an expected 22 million DS sales, Nintendo is beginning to reassure its position atop the gaming community.

It’s not all bad news for Microsoft. 

The company still arguably holds the strongest next-gen lineup for the remainder of 2007, including exclusives Forza Motorsport 2, Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Halo 3.  With more and more previously PlayStation-branded games making their way to the Xbox 360, the brute force approach might just get the console some better numbers.

Note: Despite using the phrase, I in no way encourage another “Brute Force” Xbox game.