Microsoft's ambitions for the Xbox's success have been widely known, what with the oft-quoted $500 million advertising budget and the recent cutbacks to reduce cost and increase supply. In a recent interview with European trade publication MCV, Microsoft Xbox General Manager J. Allard hinted at a global sales target of 100 million consoles. How are such sales figures possible? Allard revealed, "The games that developers can create on the Xbox will appeal to the mass market -- and that's the key."

Additionally, Microsoft plans to follow the trend of a staggered release for the system. The Xbox is scheduled to debut in North America and Japan in Fall 2001, with a European release in early 2002. It remains to be seen whether or not Microsoft will be able to fulfill their expectations, but Allard seems to have an idea of the difficulty of the task Microsoft has set in front of itself -- "The first 3 million sales are easy. It's the next 100 million that are tough."