JohnnySoprano

Oh they're definitely a PR stunt, otherwise why wouldn't they also be
angry about and tearing down the "LET THERE BE SIMS!" sign behind them
as a mockery of the bible? Equally ludicrous yet not taking place.
Definitely being paid :) Awesome though

But does TrueHD audio work through optical cable? Because the Elite model also ships with a dongle that lets you use the standard Left and Right RCA cables, as well as optical.
I'm admittedly NOT an audiophile and don't know jack about this stuff frankly, but if it works with optical, this may not be such a big deal at all.

Here in Ventura California I got to my EB at about 8:30 AM. I was already 13th in line at that point (a suprising turnout) and from what I heard the first guy was there since 3AM. The second guy got there after 6, and everyone else had been steadily showing up after that.
As we got closer to the 10AM opening the numbers grew to around 25 and right at 10:00 we hit the 32 mark, the cutoff for how many reserves were being taken.
Most people in the line had either a DS or a laptop to keep them busy. The majority were 20-something y/o guys, with two women. One wife waiting with her husband, and one awesome grandmother who was pre-ordering for her grandson.
Since only one register was up it didn't go as quickly as it might have, but nevertheless, we sold out within the half-hour.

It's not so much the content that I'm worried about. That's obviously easily added through our lovely little XBLA, but the minor upgrades to the engine that fix up shadows and help blend the currently harsh difference between near and far load zones is something that PS3 fanboys will be gloating about if it's only available on the PS3, obviously using it to argue the PS3's greater power. Hopefully bethesda can release THAT in some sort of update. I don't care if it takes up room on my HDD, I want my Oblivion to look every bit as good as the next console's.

I don't think I'd agree that they replaced the first Xbox too quickly. On the contrary I'd say that Sony's notion of a "10-year console" is ludicrous given the rate at which technology advances these days. 4-5 years seems to me like a good balance between taking advantage of hardware advances as they come and keeping things competitive between rival companies.
The danger in doing thing so quickly that I see though is that developers need time to adjust to new hardware to truly use it to it's full potential and in unique ways. This may not have been as big of an issue if the Xbox 360's hardware weren't so completely different from the original xbox, but it was so they're it a bit of a tight spot there.