Xbox One was launched in Australia midnight of Nov 21 - only the second launch in the world next to New Zealand.

Couple Francis King and Angela Tran were the first people in Australia to have had purchased their Xbox One units. According to Microsoft, they were also among the very first Australians to pre-order the console through EB Games, in Sydneys Top Ryde almost two years ago.

Xbox One was launched with 22 titles and 10 exclusive Xbox One titles - Titanfall, Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome and Halo; as well as blockbuster third party games including Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Destiny, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4.

"It's a great time to be a gamer and we are honoured to be a part of this incredible industry. More than 370 retail stores opened around the country to bring in this new era of gaming and entertainment. Thousands of people across the country headed out to collect their consoles at the stroke of midnight - that's a passion and dedication that we are continuously humbled by," said Jeremy Hinton, Interactive Entertainment Business lead for Microsoft Australia.

Xbox One was splendidly launched at the Sydney skyline with the iconic Luna Park and Sydney Tower bathe with green lights. There was a countdown projected via a large 3D water projection on Sydney Harbour beneath the North pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This was the very first time in Australia when the Sydney Tower switched off the Westfield sign. The Presets performed for the 300 people attending the launch.

In a report from Financial Review (AFR), Xbox One obtained early positive reviews for its performance, interface and exclusive launch games.

Yusuf Mehdi, chief marketing and strategy officer for Xbox told AFR that Xbox One was already running preorders twice the rate of 2005's Xbox 360.

"We continue to be on track for the biggest launch in Xbox history. We're building the largest volume of consoles that we've ever done."

Mr Mehdi said that the company hoped for an adequate supply to meet the market's demand.

Ten per cent of total Microsoft's sales in its last fiscal year were comprised of revenue from Xbox games and consoles and the Halo game franchise.

For the next fiscal year, Microsoft had crammed media apps and content to their consoles to stay ahead of the game against Japan's Sony PlayStation 4 which was launched in the United States and Canada on Nov 15.

Sony reported one million units sold just within the 24 hours from the time the PS4 went on sale.

Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian is predicting shipments of 2.5 million to 3 million units for both the Xbox One and PS4 in the fourth quarter.

Both Sony and Microsoft sold more than 80 million PS3 and Xbox 360 units over the last eight years with declining revenues in the last four years. However, analysts were predicting that a newly launched gaming console will increase sales once again for the gaming industry.

"All of those questions have been put to rest by the strong pickup this weekend of the Sony platform, and we're very confident Xbox will have a strong launch this weekend as well," Peter Moore, chief operating officer of Electronic Arts said.

"This isn't so much a competitive effort. It's really about how we grow the broader market ... that should really be the focus and a little bit of that was the spirit behind congratulating Sony for the good work they've done," Mr Mehdi commented.