Vox populi: Xbox 360 campers explain themselves
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Nov 22nd 2005 at 5:30AM }
Tom Biro of AdJab was out touring launch lines yesterday when he asked people standing in line at a Target Greatland in northern New Jersey the following question:
"Why are you out here tonight, braving this horrible weather, just to get an Xbox 360?"
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Mike - college student: Im waiting outside of target greatland in the rain, for xbox 360, gonna wait about 7 more hours, and basically its because Im addicted to Madden, and it looks completely insane on that system, the graphics, gameplay. Im just gonna sit out here, and then probably just play it until I cant play it anymore. Gonna get one game, and then play the shit out of it. |
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Anthony - corrections officer - Im just out here waiting, pretty cold, hanging out, good people, just cant wait to get the new system. |
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Chris - Im out here because two of my friends are out here, and if they get one and I dont, then theres gonna be a problem |
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Louis - college student - The reason Im here is because Gamestop didnt have enough, and I really wanted the system the first day. Waiting 13 hours, out in the rain, 40-degree weather, but its all good. |
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Jay - 8th grade math teacher - Im here for two reasons - one, to prove that common coral, attached with small wood screws to a small childs head would make that child look like a small reindeer, and secondly because by my being here, I know that one less child is gonna have a good Christmas. |
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr. Clark @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I think Jay's comments reflect highly towards his occupation.
I always knew my math teachers had it in for me.
matt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
joystiq, it would be great if you could get follow up impressions from these guys to see their reaction and if the system lived up to their hopes.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Matt: we don't have their phone numbers, but that's an awesome idea that we'll keep in mind for the future.
bd (formerly b) @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
"I LOVE MADDEN LOLZ" so one is an enthusiast of a console JUST for Madden? Holy shit, that's a non-exclusive third party title, and a rehash of the most rehashed game in history.
"Just Chillin'", looks like anyone would like to be "chillin" in that chilly weather.
"IM HERE WITH MY FRIENDS AND HOPEFULLY THE THREE OF US WILL GET A SYSTEM LOLZ" is he out of his mind? One thing is for sure: His two friends will be the last ones on getting a 360, not him.
"IM A COLLEGE STUDENT BUT I DON'T HAVE TO STUDY FOR FINALS NOW; WHY? GAMESTOP IS SOLD OUT SO I NEED TO HAVE IT RIGHT NOW AND FREEZE TO DEATH; THATS WHAT 360 IS WORTH LOLZ" 'nuff said.
Morons.
Was there even a line there, or were they "just waiting till it opens"?
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
There was a line, BD.
Ejflex @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I'm not flaming or anything.. but I have played the 360 at several different kiosks.. and I am NOT impressed at all. I wouldnt wait on a line for 5 minutes for this system. The controller is nice... the console design is putrid. The graphics, to me, looked VERY similar to the original Xbox. I just dont get what the hype is about.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Many kiosks were set up incorrectly. PGR3 and Kameo look far, far better than anything I've seen on an Xbox or PS2.
The real differentiator here is HD. With it, things look fantastic. Without it, not so hot.
Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I saw on the news some lines in New York City (no surprise) but out in the suburbs I didn't see any long lines.
I was scouting out the Poughkeepsie area last night just for the hell of it because I was curious. No big crowds and no long lines.
I told someone if they wanted to "surprise" me with something cool for Christmas, get me a Nintendo DS. That would be the perfect compliment to go with my PS2 and Xbox.
I've been gaming for around 25 years and this is one of the weakest launches I've ever seen, in terms of overall enthusiasm. I mean come on now, what percentage of gamers do you think are truly excited about the 360 so far?
Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
vc,
PGR3 maybe, I might believe you on that one.
But Kameo? Are you for real?
You said those two games "look far, far better than anything you've seen on an Xbox or PS2." Did you mean far, far better or just slighty, marginally better?
I've been in the stores and seen it but I'm not very impressed. It seems like nothing more than a Xbox with somewhat better graphics. And you gotta have a HD television to even see the difference. In my book, Microsoft has really failed the average gamer.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I mean far, far better. No contest.
This is not a matter of opinion -- I'm certain that if you were sitting next to me on my couch and we flipped between Xbox and Xbox 360 displays, you'd see the difference instantly.
Yes, I do believe that HD is the real differentiating factor.
DivideByZero @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I wonder if Jay was referring to Nirvana's "I Hate Myself And Want To Die" Lyrics or Jack Handey?
petey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Nice coverage, this is good work for a console release, now what I'm curious about is, are we getting the same coverage when the Revo hits the stores??? I have at least serious doubts but I guess we'll all have to wait a few more months to have a valid answer... good job nevertheless.
U.G.S.
Unbiased Gamers Survey
bd (formerly b) @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
VC:
So if you need an HDTV to see how "far, far better", then it isn't really that "far, far better", or is it?
Every console I've had, looked really far, far better than the previous one on the same TV.
"Without it, not so hot."
There, you said it.
Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
vc,
Alright, I'll take your word on what you said. =)
But where does that leave most people? You know, the majority of gamers don't have a HD television. What about them? Is the 360 strictly for the "hardcore" audience who have a lot of money to spend on fancy HDTV set-ups?
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Same could be said for the switch from black-and-white TV to color TV or from AM/FM to XM/Sirius radio. Or from tape to CD. Or from VHS to DVD.
It's a format change. You don't rip a DVD and write it to VHS in order to judge a movie on DVD. You simply note that DVD is a requirement to enjoy the movie as intended.
Plus, judging consoles by graphics alone is never something Joystiq will support. Graphics are the very last item that make games worth playing and owning. Chess is one of the greatest games ever, and can be played with very rudimentary objects.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
UGS:
Nintendo and Sony will absolutely get equal coverage. The key is that they'll need to provide us with consoles for testing. Microsoft provided us with a test unit prior to launch. Unless we get the same accommodation from Sony and Nintendo, it'll be impossible for us to provide the same coverage.
- V
Alex K. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
i dont understand what's so wrong with preordering online. then the computer waits for you.
joss @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I'm personally getting a VGA cable. HD quality visuals on my widescreen monitor for only 17.99 :)
I'd suggest doing the same if your on a budget. Theres' no point in trying to point out that you need higher resolution to enjoy the Xbox360 because the same goes for the PS3 too. God will these people ever just be content?!
Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
What happens if you have a 360 but no HDTV?
The answer is, you are up shit creek without a paddle.
:-D
joss @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
.....VGA cable?
Or you could wait for the PS3, where Sony will kindly provide you with two 1080i HD sets in order to enjoy their console properly o_O
adeel @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
im pretty sure we will see history repeat itself. Microsoft will continue to grow stronger but coming up from the rear the ps3 will overtake the 360 but only after the first generation of 3rd part developers for the system start to get to grips with it. Nintendo will ofcourse remain somewhere in the background once the rivalries start all over again at launch. Im not saying nintendo is bad but they are seriously out of touch with the average gamer and people tend to stick with what they know. they will be cheaper but all their consoles have been cheaper than the rest, didnt stop them from selling like a shit filled doughnut.
Oh and the whole hoohaa about ps3 being hard to develop for (just as the ps2 was?) came out again, to that i say bollox, developers are lazy, want to make quick easy games, take a lesson from kojima and molineaux, make your games smart and we will pay the 40 asking price and stop pirating your shoddy ass games! And for the love of god, stop releasing more mario, sonic, final (really?) fantasy and rehashed fifa titles ffs!
crappy 3rd party development will hurt all systems at launch, everyone knows it usually a franchise game that save the system to begin with.
Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
adeel said,
"Nintendo will of course remain somewhere in the background once the rivalries start all over again at launch. Im not saying Nintendo is bad but they are seriously out of touch with the average gamer and people tend to stick with what they know. They will be cheaper but all their consoles have been cheaper than the rest, didnt stop them from selling like a shit filled doughnut."
Selling like a shit filled doughnut!! LMAO That was priceless, dude. Thanks for the laugh. =)
Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
360 connected to my 19+ LCD monitor next to my router for only play.
"because by my being here, I know that one less child is gonna have a good Christmas." - BEST QUOTE EVER!!!!
sonicinmobius @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
God, I hate when wannabe gamers go and camp five hundred hours early (that does not make you hardcore, by the way, a common misconception) and ruin the chances of real gamers getting a game. Some people, you know, have friends, a social life, jobs...
Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
VC - you said that 'if we were sat on a couch and flipped between the Xbox and the Xbox 360 then you would see the difference instantly.
Ok, that's fair enough , but if you couldn't tell the difference instantly then Microsoft have REALLY messed up. Obviously direct comparisons are going to be obvious.
My problem is, having looked at screen shots, videos and played it in a Game store in the UK on LCD screen, it didn't look that much better at all than the Xbox( I played Kameo and saw COD in action), and certainly not astounding.
While direct comparisons obviously hilight the differences between Xbox 360 and Xbox, it is when you just see the Xbox 360 that myself and a lot of other people have thought 'it looks better but not that much better' - that has NEVER been the case with previous generations back as far as the C64 and earlier.
Everything just looks 'shinier' and 'glossier' - and its obviously aided by Hi-Def - which VERY few people will have...
OffTopic Man @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I picked up my Xbox360 this morning after pre-ordering it in advance. I must have gone by about 40-50 people who were in the regular line. As I was leaving this group of punks took a sledge hammer to an xbox and crushed it for shock value or something, they were armed with a camera. So expect to see a video on the internet soon. It was infront of a Toronto(Downsview) Bestbuy. It was kind of sad, someone wont have one because of these rich spoiled punks.
Toolio @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
"Plus, judging consoles by graphics alone is never something Joystiq will support. Graphics are the very last item that make games worth playing and owning."
I never heard anyone say the new 360 games PLAY "far far better" than original xbox. And I'm assuming they PLAY the same whether you're on an HD or normal TV. So it sounds like all these people getting a 360 today are out in the cold standing in line for what you call the "very last item to make games worth playing". I guess that makes them big dummies.
Also, I just drove by my local best buy and there were about 60 people in line. The funny part is that most were just kids who probably dont have an HDTV anyway.
Smashing a 360 with a sledge hammer? Thats kinda funny actually. What would be awesome is to get some hardcore robot enthusiasts to make killer robots out of ps3 and xbox360 and have them go at it smashing each other and using little circle saws and stuff.
Tom Biro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Good call on getting numbers for a followup, something I think we can definitely do. I went by again this a.m. but everyone was already gone. Not sure if the store opened earlier than planned, or what, but no one was to be found from this crew.
Additionally, this line didn't start obnoxiously early. The earliest someone was here was sometime mid-morning, I think, on Monday. A lot of these people showed up in the afternoon or early evening. They were lined up, but the line stayed to about 30 because there were only 30 consoles in the store. My favorite part was that they actually "made a list" between themselves, didn't get numbers from the store or anything, just got organized on themselves. Let's just say some of the other stores in the general vicinity weren't so well-set up. At the Target, everyone who rolled up and found out the deal left - probably because of the weather.
There was a pretty big mix of people - girls, guys, parents, even within that group of 30 people. And the Nor'easter hitting the scene here in the NY area yesterday most certainly wasn't helping the cause.
Bo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Holy crap some people are so asinine, I don't know how they can even commingle with the world.
BD and Mark B. I've read a lot of your comments regarding Xbox related and you guys never provide anything informative; rather opinions that is so scewed toward your 'fanboyism'.
I went out and purchased an Xbox 360. It's a great system to accomodate my HDTV setup. I was pessimistic at first, but One word: NEXT-GEN.
Playing it on my 60" HDTV and 7.1 receiver is mind boggling. One cool feature: I tested streaming my DVD collection from my media server (1.5TB) and it was flawless 200+ DVD movies streamed to my TV is definitely well worth the money -- the quality to TV is great. Now I plan on getting another system for my bedroom, so no I don't believe X360 is a failure. Although I do believe those that can't afford an HDTV and 'theater receiver' should pass on the X360 initially until they can afford the pre-requisite to accomodate the system.
If you feel the need to complain about the X360, give some valid reasons other than the graphic look like existing Xbox on regular TV - No Shit Sherlock becuase regular TV is 480i. Lower the resolution on your computer to 640x480 and see how long you're willing to be in that mode after being in at least 1024x768+, previously.
Perfect Dark Zero is A GREAT GAME. Great single/multiplayer action. This game will be huge.
Live Arcade is definitely fun for quick-fix entertainment. This will also be huge once their library start feeling up -- flawless in design and execution. I'm not feeling it, but I'm sure the games will be fun in a party environment.
Also, if one of you fanboy going to start calling me a fanboy you better STFU first because I'm not biased to only one system since I have ALL consoles and will acquire future ones as well. I'm just stating my experience and Xbox 360 is definitely worth $400.
Kye @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Now there's something worth watching tv for!
Robot-console wars :-D
*he imagines it now*....((wavy lines))
"And here comes the PS1 with a chainsaw heading straight for the 360... no! wait, the Megadrive got there first and now it's 3-way mayhem!... Circular saws and flame throwers make things hard to see... The 360 is the only thing left standing!
The Ninty 64 and the PS2 square off, both with circular saws... oohhh my, thats gona leave a mark....OH MY GOODNESS! An airbourne DS scores a suprise knockout for the Team Ninty.
Now for the final battle, PS3, Super Nintendo and Dreamcast...Jesus, Dreamcast with lasers makes quick work of the opposition!!"
*Kye drools at this sort of insanity*
:)
Pete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Well waited outside of Best Buy in Boston for 4 hours only to find they had already taken a list at 10:00PM the previous night. bullshit. I called for 2 weeks previous to make sure that they wouldn't do something like that. "first come first serve" fuck that.
vakerorokero @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I wonder want women think of gamers like this? Are there are women gamers who went to one of these things?
Also, that "hardcore gamer" is pretty much useless and dead, even more if you consider it a good thing. A hardcore gamer is something in the likes of those WoW death gamers over there in China, who play nonstop until they die. Just being number one in your block isn't harcore, its something more like "number 1 in your block" or something like that. You sound like those those "Greatest Nintendo Player" ads & vhs tapes of the early 90's. It's kind of cool when you're 9 but pretty lame is you're over 20... just enjoy games, don't make social titles for yourself.
Ladyfox @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
vakerorokero,
They think some of you need to plan a bit better in advance. -_^
All kidding aside, and just speaking for myself, I'm of the mindset that if you feel it's worth the effort of going to such extremes then I'm not one to judge. However, that being said, after going thru this several times with the two previous generations my hubby and I learned to plan early; reserving the very day they start taking pre-orders and pay it off at least a month in advance.
The only time we've been burned was on the PS2 launch when Gamestop, who assured us a few days earlier, that we would not need to pay off our console before picking it up. Walked in and found out that the morons there sold them to whoever was there first; pre-orders or no. After giving them a piece of my mind, both to the clerk and store manager, we wound up paying I think about $150 over the retail price at launch to get one.
We vowed never again would we be caught like that and have'nt since with the Xbox, SP, DS, PSP, and now the Xbox 360. If you plan early, budget your money, and pay it off before launch you can avoid having to go to such extremes. Would we do this ourselves? Probably not since, to be honest, we'd take our lumps and pay up to a 30 to 40% premium and snag one off of Ebay; figuring the percentage as a finder's fee and the trouble they went thru to get one. That, and this girl likes being warm and dry instead of cold and miserable. ^__^
Mojo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Ok, I have to ask a question I've been digging for for some time which I'm sure you guys would know. Do all games support 1080i along with 720p? The reason I ask is that last month I realized that my big screen doesn't do 720p. It really makes me want to strangle the kid at Best Buy who sold me the tv. The very first thing I asked was if it supported all of the standard resolutions. I know it's my fault for not checking myself but, man...
Anyway, I can't see myself getting a 360 if I have to run half of the software in 480. I'd read somewhere, though that games were required to support 720p as well as 1080i. Is that true?
Luke @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
The Xbox 360 will do 1080i.
jl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
vakerorokero: there are plenty of women gamers who camped out last night. I know of two who were at their respective Best Buys for over 16 hours...
Dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Bestbuy fucking sucks.
http://dancameron.org/archives/886/xbox-launch-lines/
ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
To answer an earlier question regarding women and the 360, I worked the launch this morning, and in our line of 38 people that were outside in Michigan's winter weather for 16 hours, there were seven women. One of the women actually had her friend hold her place in line and went out to buy McDonald's double cheesburgers for everyone in line! Our own store employees had to wait in the same line like everyone else, as company policy from corporate dictated that we couldn't hold ANY of the 360s for ANYBODY, not even management. We were also told to deny sales to anyone who declared they were buying it just to sell it online at a mark-up. We had one denial on that basis.
Regarding the profiteers- The official word from Microsoft this morning was that the launch was slim, but that shipments #2 and #3 will have significant numbers of Xbox 360 units. We'll have plenty of Xbox 360s by the time Xmas comes along, so don't cater to the jerks on eBay! Don't buy a 360 for any more than retail price! Let them sit on their purchases and suffer.
And Mark B and BD (The Artist Fanboyly Known As B); We're really getting sick of it. What's your point? Why do you constantly rag on the Xbox 360? You're not changing anyone's mind with your mealy-mouthed propaganda. You're not making any real impact except to make yourself look like a grade-a jerk.
While I wouldn't wait in a 16-hour line in freezing weather for the 360, I would definitely purchase one (If I hadn't already won it, that is). You accuse people of being fanboys, but then you clearly have a Sony Hard-On (tm), while most of us here seem to be gamers who play every system.
In other words, we're really tired of your baseless flame-baiting.
One more thing: Best Buy doesn't suck. We got more 360s than any other company in the USA, and we did our best to hand them out in a decent, fair order. It's not Best Buy's job to police a line outside their store to make sure people don't cut. It's not Best Buy's responsibility if you want to wait outside all day for something. All we can do is react to what we see, and we have no way of knowing who's cutting, or who is falsely accusing someone else of cutting in order to make room for their friends in the back. We're under no obligation to guarantee anyone an Xbox 360 because we were all working under a first-come, first-served system which took effect *once you set foot in the store.*
We did our best to combat people cutting. Our line actually had a few violent episodes, but we did what we could even though it wasn't our responsibility to deal with those kinds of people when our store wasn't even open. We provided hot drinks to our customers. We gave them tickets when corporate allowed us to do so, and not before. Corporate's policy was based on Microsoft's agreement with us.
So please, don't be bitchy because you arrived late, didn't deal with line-cutters yourself, and ended up without a 360. It was ENTIRELY UP TO YOU to wait in a long-ass line outside of an electronics store. We neither encouraged it nor requested it, but we certainly tried to make it as painless as possible. I'm sure other stores did the same.
We're not a face corporate machine. We're people working jobs. We are fans of gaming. We're in the same boat as you guys, and in the case of a launch like this we're dealing with about 1,000 telephone calls an hour from people asking the same question ("you got any 360s?') and a bunch of cold, hardcore line-waiters who make it necessary for people like me to come in to work at 5:00 AM just to deal with the system launch.
I don't wanna hear how unfairly you've been treated. You don't know unfair until you've had 7,000 people yell at you because they didn't get an Xbox 360 on launch day, as if they were somehow *entitled* to one.
I love being in retail most of the time, and I love making my customers happy, but when days like this happen, and all I hear is negative B.S. from people who didn't get their way, it makes me wonder if it's worth it.
In other words, Grow Up. You're sharing the world with 6 billion other people and not everybody gets what they want- Especially if they're not willing to stand up for it.
Sorry for the mini-novel. Thanks for reading.
ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Oh- Disclaimer: My rant in no way reflects the official policy of Best Buy. Best Buy is not responsible for anything I write, say, or claim.
Just in case some of you humorless twits decide I'm some sort of spokesperson. I'm not. I'm just a retail worker who doesn't like seeing my company disparaged because people had a rough launch experience. Once people get in the store, we do everything we can to accomodate them.
JollyGreenGiant @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Good post ZeroCorpse. I'm sick of all the haters and whiners on this site too, and you pointed out a couple of the big ones. Why they would care so much about a system they don't even want I have no idea. Just enjoy your system of choice and shut the @#$% up.
Alonando @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Looks like the Geek to Fat ratio remains stable folks
Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This message is for Bo, ZeroCorpse, and JollyGreenGiant.
You don't like my opinions? Tough sh*t!! No one is forcing you to read it.
All 3 of you are Microsoft fanboys, even if you claim you're not. Why else would you waste your time and bother to defend that over-hyped piece of crap aka the 360.
Honestly I simply call 'em as I see 'em and everything I have seen from the 360 is extremely unimpressive. No way in hell I'm gonna waste my money on it.
I'll be waiting for the PS3. Hell, at this point even the Revolution looks to offer a better gaming experience than the 360.
If I wanted a 360, I would already have one. Money isn't the issue. Fact is, I would rather buy a DS than a 360. The 360 is lame and so is Microsoft.