Well, it would seem that 11 days in that this is a big deal already.

Says CNET:

Microsoft on Monday said that millions of Xbox Live members have used the new social-media features that the company pushed live a week ago.

In June, Microsoft announced it would begin offering Xbox Live users access to Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm. And while the manifestation of each of those services is scaled down on Xbox Live, the rollout has been one of the company's big pushes this fall for its hugely popular online system.

And of course it’s causing the bloggers to get their blog on:

• Kotaku: Earlier this month, Facebook went live on Xbox LIVE. Loads of people have logged onto Facebook via LIVE. "Loads" is not very descriptive. "Two million" is.

• Destructoid: [David] Dennis didn’t have numbers for the amount of people who got bored with both apps and went to play Modern Warfare 2. He also didn't have a number for the amount of people using the Twitter app, but we’re guessing a lot of people signed into that as well. Not many can resist sending that, "Hey, I'm doing this over LIVE" tweet. Not many at all.

• CrunchGear: In related “social” news, Microsoft says that around half a million Last.fm account were created with the launch of Xbox Live-Last.fm compatibility.

• TechSpot: Meanwhile, the Zune marketplace — formerly called Xbox Live marketplace — served videos to 1.7 million users in the first week available. No figures for Twitter's usage were offered, but Dennis did say that there have been "tweets from nearly every market where we have Xbox Live."

• Edge Online: With around ten per cent of Xbox Live’s 20 million user base accessing Facebook, the service may be the most heavily adopted of the new features introduced with the most recent Xbox 360 system update.

On a personal note, I have yet to play with the Xbox’s new social features as I’m suffering through a bout of the dreaded Red Ring of Death. If the stars align brightly and correct-like I will receive my receive my repaired and newly undead Xbox this very night, a Thanksgiving Miracle if there ever was one I’d say. Well, in geeky terms, anyway.

(this post originally appeared on Technorati)

That was yesterday. This week’s round of Xbox news out of E3 leaves me very impressed as well:

Facebook and Twitter coming to Xbox Live as Microsoft beefs up other entertainment on Xbox 360 – This is the one that really got my attention. The potential to make the Xbox a center for both digital media *and* social media in the home is simply killer.

Xbox Live Full Retail Games on Demand: Download Mass Effect, Bioshock and More – Not having to drive the store to buy major titles is amazing. Will gaming stores need to exist in a few years?

Microsoft announces “Project Natal” motion controller for Xbox 360! – If Natal ends up being half as cool as it looks, it will at the least be a major competitor to the Nintendo Wii.

* Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Comedy launches

Back in June, I speculated that the future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade. It’ll likely take some time to see how the unique partnership with Google AdSense pans out, but in the meantime, we can check out the Family Guy creator’s latest:

* Google AdSense and Google Analytics get together

Speaking of AdSense, the popular advertising service’s stats have been integrated with Google Analytics. This is great news for web publishers who use both… oh whom there are many of many. ProBlogger points out that we’ll be able to see things like “which traffic sources generate the highest income”.

* Those wacky Microsoft ads

Ah, the comedy of nothingness comes to Microsoft ads. The latest round features Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates staked out in the home of “normal people” with the idea that they are attempting to understand how the non-billionaire set get along day-to-day. The result is… well, interesting. Check it:

* Cuil bills signs of still being ill

It’s not good-ish when a major search engine launch is plagued by poor results for simple queries. Now, only six weeks or so out from its ambitious public debut, Cuil’s VP Product Louis Monier has resigned.

* Twitter is just starting to tip over into the mainstream

Twitter is getting piped in on route to Mars, for one. I’m also seeing it hyped up on CNN throughout the day. So Twitter is starting to broach some realm of the mainstream, even if it’s still meandering amongst its geeky borderlands.