Xbox 360 launch day blues

by James Ransom-Wiley { Nov 22nd 2005 at 1:00PM }

Turns out that a shortage was most definitely in-effect. HD Beat's Kevin Tofel had one Hell-of-a-time trying to get his paws on a Premium Xbox 360. From 3:00–10:30am Kevin hit 14 retail outlets, including 3 Walmarts, two trips to Toys'R'Us, and a desperate stop at RadioShack. Oh well, maybe next year…

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Wonderflex @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Shortages - yes, but artifical or not? Wouldn't it be in MS advantage to have all the systems sell out before the big thanksgiving rush? So then when a shipment comes just befor Christmas every kid on the market will want one. So then Microsoft opens the floodgates of systems that they have; so everybody can buy this years, "Tickle Me Elmo".

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Shortage AND (if the stories are correct) there are also hard drive problems...you guys should know by now not to buy something from Microsoft right away.

xbox360-forums.com @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I just received an email from GAME in the UK here. I won't be getting my xbox 360 on launch date either. Infact they couldn't tell me when I would be getting it. Cry.

Bedpanjohn @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

here in ogden, utah, all the stores only got about 5-10 each store... gamestop was told they were going to get 30 but only got 7

JK @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

i don't think it's artificial. MS has been hustling to try and meet holiday shopping season. i am not suprised they don't have a lot of product yet.

and yeah, i drove around and looked at some cold cold people. people with more sick leave, warmer jackets, and insane committment than I have. here's to you crazy people. now let me come play some call of duty 2 at your house. razy campers got your units.

JDH @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

So let me get this straight.

I reserved a Premium Xbox 360 with 6 games (two haven't been released yet). I called today to see when I would get my system delivered and the clerk at the store said, "...after the first of the year."

I have a PSP, DS, Xbox, PC, n64, iPod, 55"HD TV, and a budget for $150 a month for games. Yes, I'm truly blessed beyond belief. However, why my store that I buy from, and Microsoft for that matter, can't see that I've been alienated during their marketing strategy is beyond my comprehension.

THey are alienating gamers that are loyal and spend disposable income on more games, in favor of, the hype caused by a shortage ploy to win over "middle of the road" or "on the fence" possible buyers.

I just don't get it.

Somewhere EB Games or any of the other specialty retailers should have seen this coming and called some of their "preferred" customers.

If someone wants to make a few grand this year by selling me games, please contact me. Or better yet, send me an xbox 360 and I will gladly buy all of my games for all of my systems from you.

Thanks,

Loyal Gamer

Laughing Man @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

1) Allard flat out stated in an interview that they had no idea how they were going to make this physcially work with a worldwide launch. They've know for awhile.

2) Perception is huge. The PSP launch was trailed by articles about how it hadn't sold out. This created a perception that the machine wasn't successful in some quarters.

3) I think what happened was this: they realized there was no possible way whatsoever to fill the demand they created so they decided to forge ahead pell mell to get the jump on Sony and launch before the holiday season. In effect, no matter what happened, they would create the perception of a huge hit.

Now I think the bigger news story is the number of failing X360s out there. A kotaku editor of all people has had their 360 lock up on them, but to them that's just a story about Gun. And then a reader replies about the same thing.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/gun/360-gun-misfires-138728.php

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=461074

COD2 has problems in online play. Quake 4 is supposedly damn near unplayable due to frame rate.

And it turns out that Perfect Dark Zero is a great game after all... How did Microsoft mess this up?

(p.s. kotaku sucks so hard compared to joystiq)

XeqtioneR.net @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I hit up a few different stores, and ended up at Cosco. They had 22 Premiums, and Premiums ONLY. I had a buddy show up there before, he was 11th in line. By the time I got there, I was 13th!

Cosco had a bundle with the Premium System, an Extra wireless controller, the Play/Charge kit, media remote and Kameo for $479! So now I got double of 1 game, and 3 controllers, and I spent more than I initially wanted, but I GOT MY 360! BOO YA!

GamerZero @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Yeah your right jago.If I was Microsoft I'd have bilions of consoles in the shops straight away so I could increase market share an extra 60% and make more money.....no thats daft innit!I remember when I bought me first PS2 and it scratched my games and dvd's and sounded like a refrigerator.It had bad jaggies on the edges of graphics and SSX was the only title worth playing.I had a deep love for Fantavision but my mates said it was gay so I thought I'd wait a year for Gran Turismo to keep me Respec!

Acid Burn 85 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

That sucks, I hit all major retail outlets in my area, and I live in a pretty small town and started at about 2:00 pm, but all lines were full, however I got on Best Buy's website this morning and refreshed it like a 1000 times until they place the link to buy it, and they said I will recive it in 1-2 weeks. Not bad, but I wish I could have got it last night.

ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I have it on good authority that the second and third shipments will be MUCH larger than the launch shipment. The people who are selling (or buying) on eBay for a thousand dollars will be S.O.L. in less than three weeks.

DO NOT buy a 360 from some jerkwad profiteer on eBay who is selling it for $800 or more! You will be able to get one before XMas!

Jeremy Wright @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Second shipment in 3 weeks is what I'm hearing, and it'll be about the same as the first shipment. It'll be cutting it really, really close to Christmas.

So, Joystiq, when do you issue a retraction for all the "naw, it wasn't sold out" BS?

I'm not a fanboy, but it was getting really, really tiring. After all, if the shortage was fake you'd be linking to the 50 times you told us it was fake and gloating. Now that it's real you're just saying "ah well, woe is us"?

Sloopydrew @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I managed to snag an XBOX 360 at 12:23 AM at Wal-Mart. Someone had actually returned there machine, deciding it wasn't worth the money (bloody idiots could have sold it for triple what they paid). I bought it with the intention of selling it, brought it home, played Kameo and Condemned, realized the graphics weren't any better than Half-Life 2 or Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil on the original XBOX, packaged everything up, went to Target at 7:20 AM (40 minutes before they opened) and sold the system with the two games for a cool $1,000.00. A profit of nearly $500.00, counting the games I sold. So that was my night with the 360. Anyone not able to get one, don't worry -- you're not missing anything. Go pick up Half-Life 2 on the 360, Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube, God of War on the PS2 or Mario Kart on the DS and you'll have a LOT better time. Maybe it will improve, but for now, in this gamer's opinion, the 360 is a total joke (although I didn't mind essentially being paid $500.00 for speneding a night playing the machine).

Matt @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Can somebody who works at one of these retailers please give us a clue as to when the next shipments will be coming? I've heard they'll be coming on Black Friday, but I sure as hell don't want to be part of that madness unless I know they'll be available. Why don't these stores know when the next shipments are coming? And why the hell can't they take reservations for the next shipment? A girl at Best Buy told me they couldn't because they had no idea when it would be coming. So what! Can't you usually order a product from these stores when they're out of stock? I worked in retail for quite some time when I was in school and at every job, people could put in orders for stuff we didn't have in stock. What makes the xbox 360 so different? This is all such BS.

I went to 5 different stores last night at 11 PM prepared to wait until 9 AM for a system and at every store the lines were too full, and it was cold and raining all night. I then went to 4 more stores this morning when they were opening, seeing if they had any in stock and none of them did. The kick in the balls was that I was watching people walk out with their systems. I'm planning on calling/going into these stores maybe 5 times a day to see if a shipment came in so I can get one. I figured this would happen. Once I was told I was almost 100th on the gamestop list, I knew I wasn't crazy enough to line up in time to get one at launch... people were there at 7 PM last night... that's 14 hours in the wet, cold weather! That's not for me. My cut off was 10 hours, and even that was pushing it. So, anyone have any insider info on the next shipments?

Abhinav Kumar @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I didnt get one ethir, i am extreemly depressed.

Sloopydrew @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Matt,

I talked to the ladies at Wal-Mart and a couple of employees at Target and was told nearly the exact same thing: There will be scattered SMALL shipments (5-10 consoles) weekly through December. By the second week of January there will be a HUGE shipment to most stores and anyone and everyone can get one. As I said in an earlier post, I owned the console for 7 hours last night before selling it to a poor soul waiting in line at Target, and it isn't too spectacular. I actually enjoyed Half-Life 2 on the XBOX, God of War on the PS2 and Resident Evil on the GameCube much more, and think they have better graphics (the two games I played were Kameo and Condemned -- I also played King Kong and Call of Duty 2 at Wal-Mart's display). If you really, really want one, you'll have no trouble getting one in early January. Or if you keep checking every day or so, you should be able to find one in the next few weeks, if you're lucky (or unlucky, as the case may be). Hope that info. helps!

LaughingMan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

6 -

This is what I'm always writing about here. How gamers need to stand up for themselves and stop taking crap. The retail experience associated with gaming is disgusting. Preorders only for even new software, a glut of used software - preorders for games that haven't even been announced... It's like the accounting Enron used to inflate their stock price. If you can sell preorders and take money for products that don't exist you can inflate your sales and thereby look more attractive to investors. If you paid for a 360 this year and you don't get it delivered until next year, doesn't that mean that they can report for the winter quarter that you contributed to sales? Meanwhile, let's merge two companies so that our execs get huge bonuses...

Games journalists, however, rarely ever rock the boat. They're more cowed than the record industry had their payola staff. It's why I believe in gaming blogs - hopefully lovers of games can come to a consensus when they're getting the shaft. Again, the people in the industry who make money and business decisions continue to use the idea that gaming is a juvenile, hobbyish pasttime that isn't serious so therefore they're not accountable in a business sense for defective, shoddy, and deceptive marketing and product. In the meantime they hang out on the rooftop of the Standard during E3 wearing their Armani suits blowing 12 bucks a piece on mojitos for model-actress-whatevers.

Those are the same people who thought, yeah let's pay some rock bands to play our launch party! And also, gaming will be multiethnic hip fun for young model types of various ethnic backgrounds! And girls are going to love marketplace, they can sell shiny baubles there! And let's brand our new console with the Spider-Man font cause it's extreme!

Bust @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

picked up an 360 this morning, i've been putting money down on it since this summer and had it all paid off by the 1st of november. all i had to pay for today was a game and 360 insurance eb was offering in case there was some sort of glitch like a poor hd or someing.

is the 360 worth my 400+ bucks? i've tried it out and enjoy it, so yes it was worth. now all i have to do is wait for oblivion

TRANZ @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

ok.... so Wallmart's website JUST updated with Premium systems "IN STOCK" for $399, but what the heck, check out the $400 shipping fee? I just went through the checkout process, and yeah you have 3 options of shipping, all for $400? WTF?

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2817/price7dx.jpg

hater2win @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

What the hell is number 17 even saying. He just rambles on about something completely random. There is a hint of the industry not taking gamers seriously in there, but what the hell do mojitos and the spider-man font have to do with anything?

Svlad Cjelli @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Gainesville Florida was out by about 7am. Even Sears sold out before the store opened....

Bestbuy doesn't seem to mind the hype. Notice on the web site it says "Lucky enough to score a 360?" Now thats hype.

pheen @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I went to the local Walmart, they only had 4 premium systems and about 15 core systems. The premium systems were taken by people that waited all day, I walked in at about 10PM, got a ticket for a core system, went to the bar for an hour or so, and came back and picked up the Xbox at midnight. They had no wireless controllers, no hi-def cables, no hard drives, and no Perfect Dark Zero. I was #15 in line and they were out of Call of Duty 2 by the time I got up there. Pretty disappointing, but at least I didn't have to wait in line for hours.

your enemies friends @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

i got one! call of duty is awesome. i pre-ordered mine and had it paid in full 2 months ago. the eb games manager didnt want to sell it to me but i bitched at him and threatened him and eventually he gave in. this guy had some nerve, like i wanted to throw down 500 bucks ahead of time. i couldve used that money for something else. i guess as soon as you let them know they're in for an assbeating they'll slang you a 360.

bob23 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

.... and my tard of a friend thinks he is getting it today when he just pre-order a month ago....

Bryan Warner @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

You've got to be kidding me? After standing at #30 on what "was a line" at Target (girlfriend) and #27Circuit City (me) in College Point, Queens, NYC, we walked away with nothing, zero, ziltch, nada. After posting in the Sunday newspaper that they would be opening at 8am SHARP on a "first come, first serve basis", an employee comes out of Target with 12 (that's right 12!!!) tickets, and states this is all we have for sale holding them in the air. She then says" Here, you're going to need these (tickets) to be able to purchase a 360." After being "bum rushed" by passer by's the tickets and her were gone.

Now, on to my good 'ol buddies at Circuit City... what a damn discrace!! The manager finally shows up at 8:20am. (Glad to see he wanted to get there in plenty of time to get ready for a NEW GAME SYSTEM LAUNCH) and just scans the crowd. He gets out of his car and just goes in without saying anything. Well around this time everyone who couldn't get a 360 at Target and other local shops make there way to the end of the shopping area. Out comes this Piece if S@!T joke of a manager and says virtually the same thing the girl at Target said, only he had 35 Premium and 14 Core sytems. So what does he do next?...Right, you guessed it... ignored the fact that there were mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, and other "hard-working" people on line all night and wee-early morning hours in the freezing cold and rain and let everyone know that he or Circuit City quote "Ain't responsible for line jumpers and shit like that" and to "...call the police if we can't deal with it...". Menwhile he then tells us that his buddy standing next to him is a "...cop with a big gun, so don't try nothing stupid yo!" We later find out through another employee that they're not opening until 10am anyway, and that the tickets won't guarantee you a system because at that time we are open for regular business and the line won't mean nothing to them.

Way to go retail...

JGE @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

So.... at 5:30 this morning I cruise by the local Bestbuy(which I know is getting 42 premiums and 12 cores) and I see about 60 people waiting in line so I cross the parking lot to Target where there is about 15 or so people. I wait in line until about 6am when the manager comes out and informs us that they have 14 systems, 12 of which or the Core systems. Oh well. I cross the street to Circuit City and am told that they took names and handed out numbers for about 12 systems (system distribution unknown). As a last ditch effort, before work, I hopped over to Sears around 7am. Number 3 in line, this can't be too bad. Sure enough, 6 systems - 4 premium and 2 core. I got my 360. Only question now is since the shortage is real, should I hit ebay with it? Hmmm...

dan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

i preordered mine a month ago and it arrived today.. it pays to live in canada. go futureshop.ca

PJ @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

The costco by my house (Sacramento area) had 119 Premium Xbox 360's. As of this morning at 8:30 AM there were still over 20 left and no line. It is 11:50 local time here now so I am sure these units are now gone.

Phil H @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Well I actually got my Xbox 360 after 15 hours of waiting at a Best Buy in Fort Worth, TX. I got it home set it up, popped in Need for Speed: Most Wanted.. and BAM 3 minutes in it freezes... tried multiple times with NFS and COD2 but after 3 minutes of play the entire 360 will freeze! I call Microsoft Support and they say they are having a massive amount of phone calls regarding this issue and the only thing they can do is overnight you an empty box that you have to mail your 360 to them and hope they can fix it. I was told since this is Thanksgiving week it could be awhile before I get my 360 back... joy.

Joseph @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I wonder how much of the shortage was caused by people purchasing units to re-sell? I don't think the demand for these re-sold expensive units is really there though... after the first batch of ebay suckers.

FM @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Anyone want a premium on ebay for only more than $1000? Is it hype or desperate attemps?
(Why didn't I think of this...)

Bryan Warner @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Guido @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

perhaps I should be glad I didn't get my 360 either by the looks of the issues people are having. For the record in Canada it ain't no better.. 10 stores, nothing.

Real or Fake, Microsoft really dropped the ball on this one BIGTIME. You can't tease people about this great system and then fail to deliver - even the system itself.

James @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I spoke to a guy at Zero Hour. He worked at the manufacturing facilities in China for Microsoft. The shortages are defintely not artificial. He was contracted to be working in China for a couple of weeks, but it ended up being a couple of months.

K @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

This is very clearly a deliberate tactic on Microsoft's part. Not only was this rumored by bloggers, but also confirmed by analysts (who often have true inside information on the companies they evaluate). Unfortunately this has all played (at least so far) in their favor. I think the consumers need to make more negative noise as to the supply problems and expose Microsoft's apparent disdain for the end user.

P.S. It's easy to make the case that "if MS could produce enough to satisfy current demand then they would". But in my opinion the stakes are larger - this is a console war that's bigger than selling product in the opening week. The marketers in Redmond are looking to place the Xbox on the top of the pack and instigating demand in a Cabbage Patch frenzy seems to be the strategy of choice for the moment. This in itself is practically free press and we're all helping the situation unless the criticism becomes true to the cause.

Dead Like Steve @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

WOOT! Picked mine up 8am this morning at my Local EB. There were people camping trying to get some until the clerk told everyone they overbooked preorders and there were not free units availible. Walked right in and out in less than 3 minutes.

BxJoseff @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Upon hearing about the massive harddrive problems I picked up my pre-ordered 360 from Gamestop this morning at 8am-called into work that I would late and proceeded to sell the 360 on the corner of Fordham Rd in the Bronx and made a 300 dollar profit.

I'll wait until the AFTER the coming recall to purchase what seems to be an overly HYPED console.

Great first experience purchasing a Microsoft Console...I made 300 bucks and will be playing True Crime New York City when I get home and picking up Two Thrones for PS2 on Dec 2nd.

I choose gameplay over graphics-ANY DAY.

stubing @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Went to a Sam's Club at 6:30 a.m. this morning because they open at 7:00 a.m. for business members - had a friend there at 5:50 a.m. - anyway, we get let in the LOCKED doors at 7:00 a.m. sharp - NO XBOXES - SOLD OUT - is what they tell us!?!? Turns out that the store opened up at 5:00 a.m. for *family and friends* and screwed everyone else. Both of us already filed complaints against the store with the head office who told us that the store definitely did not follow store policy (turns out that someone *reserved* an xbox 360 over the phone with a credit card...which is also against store policy). Someone should get fired in my opinion.

Tom @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I didn't feel like pre-ordering. I called up a few places this morning and they were all sold out. I'm upset, but I know that there are people who worked a lot harder and got a lot closer to getting an x-box today and came out empty handed. For those of you who were fortunate enough to get one, i'm happy for you and i hope that there aren't any glitches (actually, i do).

For the rest of us, are we really so desperate that we can't wait a few weeks? I know it sucks, especially when it's something you really really want, but there's nothing you can do. There's always e-bay, but even if you really have the money for it, do you really want to be a sucker?

Don't give Bill Gates the satisfaction that he has a product that he knows you'll be willing to go through great lengths to procure.
Don't let MS do that to you. X-box 360 should be amazing, but hey, i can wait. It should be interesting to compare this with the ps relase.

And remember, a few months down the line (at the max), it will be irrelevant whether you got your x-box on november 22 or a few weeks later. I'm an avid video gamer (maybe not as much as some of you), and I don't want to sound clich?but there's so much more to life than 0s and 1s (i.e. video game source code).

that's my two cents worth

Hugh Jass @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

".... and my tard of a friend thinks he is getting it today when he just pre-order a month ago...."

What's your point? I think it's completely reasonable to expect that a pre-order placed a month ago should be valid. If Microsoft wasn't ready to come even close to meeting demand, maybe the launch should have been postponed until it could happen without F-ups at every since big box retailer across the country.

Brian Rose @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I'm not entirely convinced the shortage is real. I was at a Wal-Mart in Greeley, CO (a college town of about 80,000 people) at midnight and asked how many 360's they had received. The clerk told me they had only received 10, all Core Systems, but that I should try the Sterling Wal-Mart.

I called up Sterling and, sure enough, they had at least 30 left after the rush. THIRTY! Sterling is a town in northeast Colorado and has about 15,000 residents. Why would Microsoft send so many to such a remote location?

Dman @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

C'mon Phil H, thats what Ebay is for... ;-)

tyrant @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

i was driving around till 3am last night, everywhere had their lines full already. went looking around today at sams club and walmart again..empty of course...luckily i was able to buy 2 craptacular core systems from kmart.com before they sold out 5 mins later

mylo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

i guess none of you were around for the ps2 launch same thing happend .. shortages everywhere people camping out everywhere .. so it's nothing new @ all i pre-ordered @ gamerush pick mine up this morning be4 work .. now im sittin @ work dyin to get home to pop this things cherry ... shortages are always going to happen supply and demand .. no matter how many systems were available @ launch sumone out there would not have there's today so i'm sorry you dont have your system ... but i'm sure you will get one soon .. i mean come on did you honestly think your local EB-GS would get more than 20 systems on launch? blame those hozers for taking your cash and gaining interest on it

Randy @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

if anyone missed there xbox 360, my friend is selling his cheaper than most

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8236339030

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

"i guess none of you were around for the ps2 launch same thing happend .. shortages everywhere people camping out everywhere .."

How old do you think some of us are? I had pre-ordered my PS2 in March the year it was coming out at a KayBee. I was able to walkin at 7am and walk out within 5 minutes.

Up until late last year I had no problems with my system but then it started giving me DOE errors. Fortunately, a friend at Circuit City who had just bought a PS2 put my system in his box and took it back to be exchanged. I now have the last production line of PS2's before that changed to the slim version.

Take Two @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Well, I spent from 6am to 9am trying to find a 360 at the following:

Best Buy
Circuit City
Toys R Us
Gamestop
Target
K-Mart
Comp USA
Fry's

all to no avail. It was sold out before ANY of the stores opened.

Gamestop wasn't even accepting walk up traffic, "Sorry, unless you pre-ordered back in May, we don't have a console for you! Go to WalMart or try back next year!" was their response.

Circuit City at least offered hope, anyone not claiming a system by noon with their voucher will have their system sold by 12:01pm. By 11am, all that had vouchers had shown up to claim their systems.

One thing was consistant, those who camped out the night before got a system.

This system was quite literally impossible to find.

A friend of mine was at Zero Hour and he said they had TONS of consoles available for sale.

This whole thing has been discouraging. If I don't find a console prior to Christmas, chances are I'm not going to buy one in favor of waiting for the PS3. Guess I'll need to pre-order or break out the camping gear.

Lewigi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Did anyone get one without preordering?

Kid-Without-360 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

Since a lot of you are having trouble getting the 360, why not get one for free? This site is totally legit, and well....it works. All you need to do is complete an offer and refer some friends to do the same. Not only will you get a 360 PREMIUM Pack, but by using THIS link, you are helping me get one as well.

http://www.xbox3604free.com/default.aspx?r=382336

I know some of you may find this annoying. But I am just some kid trying to get a 360, and helping some other people along the way. Good luck on trying to get your 360.

CV @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM

I'm disappointed I didn't get one, but I was actually more excited about the music streaming features than any of the games. I know good games will eventually come out. I've been wanting a good music streamer for a while. I'm not going to buy a device that only does that when I can get a 360. Anyway, with all of the issues people are having, I'm not too heartbroken about not getting one on launch day. It doesn't make me bitter. It doesn't make me want to wait a year for a PS3. I'll just get one when it's a little more realistic. I knew the Xbox 360 would sell out, thanks to small number at launch, but I didn't really anticipate so many people camping out overnight in the cold. The PS2 launch was bad, but not to this degree. You could still walk into certain stores and pick one up. Consumers have actually gotten a lot smarter since then. Okay, not smarter, but they know how to sniff out inventory and deplete it better.

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