Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on here? Circuit City's website has promised that Xbox 360 units will be available at 2pm ET this Friday. That's a good 3.5 days (82 hours) ahead of schedule.
According to a Circuit City customer service rep we spoke to when we called 1-800-843-2489, every physical Circuit City location will be selling the console this Friday at 2pm ET. Just to be sure, we called again and spoke to a second rep at 1-800-843-2489: "Yes, it will be available this Friday at 2pm ET online as well as at our stores."
Better call in sick to work on Friday if you intend to snag one, though, because that line will be forming on Thursday at some locations. Also, be prepared to shell out more than you may have budgeted, as Circuit City will only be selling systems bundled with games.
Of course it's entirely possible that Circuit City's web team has just messed up with their updates of two separate pages (1, 2). We've seen bigger blunders, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. It's also possible that Circuit City is just being tricksy with their marketing and intend to take pre-orders only this Friday. Not cool, if so.
Update: Circuit City PR just got back to us with clarification.
[Thanks to Mark B. and the others who sent this in.]
