We all know that the Xbox 360 suffers from a fairly high failure rate, as we've all known someone (or been someone) who has experienced first hand the devastating effect of the dreaded Red Ring. However, many of us haven't seen the widespread effect this failure rate is having on the gaming market -- in a recent convo with Reuters, Microsoft's Jeff "Jeff Bell" Bell reported that retailers are having a hard time keeping the system in stock, and that MS is "running short of product here in the United States."Microsoft issued their own official announcement on the matter in their response to the January NPD report (the same response that those GameDaily gumshoes discovered was chock full o' statistical gerrymandering), saying that "due to this high demand, Xbox 360 is experiencing temporary shortages." We can't help but wonder how much of the shortage is caused by actual post-holiday demand for the system, and how much is caused by the high numbers of Red Ring replacements being shipped out.
Then again, we haven't bought any 360s in a while; the shortage might not be as bad as MS is making it out to be. Has anyone had a hard time getting their hands on Microsoft's console/radiator lately?
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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Also about the shortages due to RROD:
Doesn't Microsoft just send out refurbished units not new units when they replace 360's? I know when mine RROD'ed back in August that it was replaced with a refurbished unit. I'm sure it was just a fixed RROD unit somebody else had. If that's the case then I just don't see how shortages of new units in stores could be because of failures of old systems.
for them to be gone by the next day. Same with Gamestop, Best-buy etc...
No Xbox 360's at my local Wal-Mart.
I dunno, I think MS is in trouble or at least not doing as well as they should. That one year head start obviously helped them (I don't think they'd be anywhere near where they are now without it), but I think it's just not enough.
MS is very quick to quote US numbers, a big market for sure, but anywhere outside the US the situation is a lot more dire.
Couple all of that with the PS3 ramping up bigtime...
Also where are the games for 360 for 08? Haven't heard about too many really. :s
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No big exclusives, the machine dies alot, Bluray victory, PS3 coming on like a hurricane...you are dead MS. Dead.
I picked up:
Vision Live Pack (Cam+12month LIVE) = $40 at TRU
Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero = $7 each at Kmart
what I wonder tho, why doesn't Microsoft relocate a few thousands consoles to America from Japan...its not like they are selling like hotcakes there, hey, they still get an A for effort...
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Maybe they have, but the problem runs deeper than a few thousand consoles.
Look, here are the two astonishing facts:
1) Jeff Bell says Microsoft 'misjudged demand' for XBox 360, so badly that there will be shortages measured in months, not weeks
2) This month, the PS3 outsold the XBox 360 in the affected areas.
This is incredible. Jeff Bell is admitting that Microsoft EXPECTED the XBox 360 to sell fewer units than what the PS3 sold in January, and planned their supply chain accordingly.
They had outsold the PS3 for 14 straight months, and had their boots against Sony's head in this space, and what was their great game plan for 2008? To save money on manufacturing costs by planning to undersell Sony.
That is a loser strategy from a loser management team. Is this what we can expect from the Don Mattrick era? Microsoft deserves to get their ass kicked this year.
They've been outselling the 360 in the US for the last 14 months. But worldwide the ps3 has been outselling it for months. Remember you might think the US is the world, but it isn't. Also, I don't know if NDP is America or North America, but plenty of 360s in Canada.
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Something I always wonder about is why the 360 takes so much heat (pun intended) for running warm. I have a 360 and a PS3, and my PS3 gets 10x hotter than my 360 has ever been.
I also find it funny that the three people who see xbox 360s everywhere they go (undead priest, vidguy, and kspraydad) have a majority of their comments on wiifanboy or ps3fanboy...
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Different experiences I guess but the only 360 I've seen a lack of are the Elites. There are Core and Arcade packs EVERYWHERE. That isn't a shortage but a mismanagement of your supply lines.
For the record, Xbox 360 will outsell PS3 more often then not in the US this year but I don't believe it will be anywhere near the pace of last year and world wide the PS3 is and will continue to outpace the 360.
Something fanboyish in these comments?
i dont know, its probably just coincidence. to be fair, the only thing that is impossible to find around here is the Wii. i mean you can even find a DS Lite if you go to the right stores. there are stacks of PS3's and 360's in Best Buy, Walmart, Circuit City, Target and im sure plenty other places. now i only remember seeing Elites in Best Buy but i have seen plenty of everything else.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6186160.html
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lol sorry couldnt resist.
but seriously, i think the shortage is just in larger cities or something because they are everywhere in the small town i live in and mid sized city i go to college in. i was thinking that all the replacements they are sending out could be cutting into their supply but im not sure exactly HOW they handle replacements so it could be anything. theyll get it fixed soon though.
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http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/microsoft-responds-to-npd-talks-shortages/?biz=1
it list a bunch of stats showing how the 360 is kicking ass. i had already seen most of them but the one that caught me off guard was the one that said...
"Xbox 360 has 83 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher compared to just 42 for PS3 and 14 for Wii."
my question is, what the hell is the Wii doing? how does it have all those games out and only 14 of them received a Metacritic review of over 80? i mean im not a Wii hater by any means since i do own one but that just caught me by surprise is all.
ok, carry on then.
It's more convenient to developers... they save a lot of money. They don't need to pay distribution and stuff.
Everyone wins... they sell shitry games and low prices and we win by not having the game on retail (it's embarrasing to see Chicken Shot in a retailer)
Why? Mainly, it benefits those companies to be on store shelves. It costs them a little more to do things that way but it benefits them greatly to be in a market and taking up retail space where impulse buys occur regularly (read: bargain bins). Also, your informed consumers are NOT going to be very good victims of shitty software on the digital distribution market.
Crap wii games are not going to be solved with WiiWare.
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They're a multi billion dollar company with a product that's been out for 2 years now is it? How can they have shortages? Unless they're talking about certain models like the Elite, which I heard was near impossible to find anywhere.
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We are talking about JANUARY. As we speak, MS already solved the shortage problem. February should be back to normal where 360 would be second place.
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