When Microsoft announced that there would be new content coming to Modern Warfare 2—and the Xbox 360 would get it first—gamers had one of two reactions. People with 360s were excited, while other gamers complained that Microsoft seemed to be yet again locking down content by writing large checks. At CES we sat down with Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, and asked about the business of getting exclusive content.

"I think about it like a sports team, when you sign a star athlete for your team... when you sign that free agent, I think it makes your team better. At the end of the day, we want to turn as many people as possible into Xbox 360 fans."

Greenberg talks about Microsoft's line-up of exclusive content this year as being incredibly strong. "And then to say, on top of that, to take the biggest game of last year, and be the exclusive place you can get that downloadable content first, I think that's a big deal. That's a big reason you'd want to buy an Xbox 360 instead of another console. So we think from a business standpoint that's part of the reason more people are buying the Xbox 360, more people are on Xbox Live, it's part of the reason more people are buying Modern Warfare 2—more than two to one our box vs. the PS3."

He points out the "bet" Microsoft put on Modern Warfare 2, by putting out the custom console and showing it off at E3, and says now Microsoft wants to follow up that trend by offering the content first.

Will any of this convince gamers that are angry that Microsoft isn't simply throwing money around? It's doubtful. The fact remains, however, that you'll have to own a Microsoft console if you want to play the newest Modern Warfare 2 content first. That's a powerful selling point.