*** Official *** XBox 360 Hardware DISCUSSION Thread - Page 2

I've read that it was much easier to get one at the membershipment warehouses, like Sam's Club and Costco.

Gotta love it when people bid crazy on the empty Xbox box:

http://cgi.eBay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

(I doubt the buyer intends to pay, judging by the user name, but still funny nonetheless.)

I had to stop at Target on my way into work this morning to get some stuff, and I over heard the guy in electronics say they only got 16. I was pretty surprised. Thankfully I've never been an Xbox guy and I won't be getting Xbox 360. But I still feel bad for those who really want one.

This IMO is not a legitimate sellout; it's a deliberate shortage. You could say they MS wants to get early waves out to start bringing in revenue, but do they really need to do that?

I remember being able to get a PS2 and a Gamecube relatively easily online around their launches, and I'll likely employ that strategy for PS3, provided there are any launch titles I'd be interested in.

Good luck to all trying to get one of these.

considering what they are selling for on ebay, i'd have bought them all day long for $800

CJ

12 Hours in line at Walmart (My wife came and releived me for an hour twice). The decision to wait was a snap decision. I happened to have the day off and was in the store and saw the line forming. We had preordered a system from Gamestop back in June and were told last week not to expect one until after Christmas. The kids have been saving their allowance for months...

Not the most organized process. As shifts changed the manager on duty would come by and do a head count. Each manager had a different story and that kinda made the mood a little sour. First they were going to be handing out tickets at 9pm and we could come back at 12 to pick up the xbox. Then there were no tickets and we had wait it out. One manager went so far as to say they didn't know how many systems they had after we had been told for hours by several employees that there were 48 (32 premium / 16 core).

At about a 11 they came and moved the first 48 people to the store room and lined us up by twos there. The folks left out by layaway were getting pretty loud and angry (keep in mind that everyone in line after the 48th person was told that there were only 48 systems). Once they moved the line outback my stepson had to stay out on the floor with the mob. He said that some people were talking about mugging people (then again he likes to tell stories). In anycase, it was getting pretty rowdy and I wasn't hangin around after paying for it and made a dash for the car.

They really should have had security on staff.

I managed to play PGR for 5 minutes when I got home. Wow!

The strategy of having too few systems on opening day will only work if there are plenty of machines to go around Christmas.

EB Games has shipped my Call of Duty 2, but my Ultimate Bundle is still "On Hold."

I stopped by Costco when they opened this morning, but they had already handed out vouchers for their bundle. Every bundle was the same from what I saw: a Premium system + extra wireless controller + Kameo + Play and Charge Kit for only $479. From the looks of it, they had over 100 of these bundles for sale, it was kind of surreal seeing everyone in Costco carrying the Xbox 360 bundle.

A guy I work with got the same bundle from Costco. Sounds like that was the place to hit.

Between the shortage situation and the financial constraints of Christmas shopping. I probably will not be able to buy one of these until January. I did put one down on my Christmas list but I probably have a slim chance of getting one (a guy can try can't he? )

The only comment that I would like to make is that I think MS has handled this launch poorly. I'd be pretty steamed if I was a person who had pre-ordered months ago and was told that I would not be recieving my pre-ordered system until January or February, after all what then is the purpose of a pre-order? and does MS really need to institute shortages to increase revenue? ( I guess that theoretically it makes sense in business terms, but the real-world fact is that they will make a killing on this either way they do it)

It doesn't sound like MS is the only one to blame though because it sounds as though the stores were ill-equipped for this too. Stores like Wal-Mart shouldn't have gotten a certain number of systems only to have all of them reserved for employees . OTOH I also think that some of these people went to the extreme camping out for hours on end in the cold anticipating the launch.

Congratulations to those who got one and good luck to those still trying to get one.

The Costco where I live had 26 systems in stock. Out of those 26, 8 went to employees (my husband being one of them).

The line was crazy. People are going nuts trying to get one. The local target/bestbuy/circuit city/toys R Us all had lines longer than the great wall of china (well not really but you understand) and there was already a ruckus outside one of the stores wehre people were duking it out trying to get a place in line.

Crazy!

Everyone seems to be out everywhere here in Memphis.

I'm really disappointed I won't be playing one over the Holidays. Microsoft really screwed the pooch on this launch. I guess they learned nothing from Sony's PS2 launch shortages.

Guess I'll have to wait (like so many others!) until Jan/Feb. Here's hoping I can treat myself to a birthday present on January 31st.

I went around 12:30 to my local Sams and there was probably 30 cars in the lot ... I know they are getting 20 systems, so I panic a bit. On closer inspecition, however, there is no one in any of the cars and no one waiting by the door... it's just the employees cars! They open to business members at 7AM... so I had acquired my father in laws bussiness member card and a business check to pay with yesterday. After parking and sitting for about 15 minutes, a lady gets out of her truck and walks over to ask if I am waiting for the 360. I say yes, and we agree taht neither of us cares to sit in the cold so we just stay in our cars to wait out the lines in relative comfort. (The best buy is next door and has 40-50 people in line already, sitting in the cold... suckers)

Anywho, about 5 AM I doze off for a sec and when I come to, there are 3 people waiting by the door. The lady who was waiting in her car joins them, so I figure it's time for me to bust out my chair and hit the line. The line slowly grows until reaching 20 people around 6:30. I was rather surprised at how late the line took shape. Anyways, at 7 they let the first 20 of us in the store and led us to the 360s. Check out immediately, and I'm on my way Smile

So, I even got the sweet deal they had.... Premium system, extra wireless controller, and play and charge kit for $450.

If there was a CostCo in my area, I'd have been all over that deal! I thought I was getting a pretty sweet deal already, but throwing in Kameo for 30 more bucks is awesome!

Anywho, haven't had a chance to play yet... had to come to work. Didn't even have a chance to hook it up.. I was late enough just from taking the time to open everything.

I talked to a CSR from Sam's online store last night and was told that my order would not be coming until Dec 23 at the best. With that lackluster news, I decided to grab my business member card and head out at about 5:00am. I was 18th in line and there were 20 units. I'm now the happy owner of an XBox 360

I believe it was intentional to drum up sales before the holidays, ala Disney and their moratorium system. Hurry out and pick it up now or wait 10 years. Bwa-huh-huh!!!

is this happening?

CJ

Absolutely! I've met several people who fall in that 50% or so number of presells who did NOT get a system today.

Yes. The likes of EB & GameStop heavily oversold their preorders.

Forgive me if I sound like I'm gloating, but I didn't have to deal w/ camping out, pre-orders, or waiting in line (at least not too long of a wait). Here's how my Xbox360 search went:

1) Drove to my local Walmart around 11:30pm Monday night; noticed that there wasn't a line in front. Went inside--still no line...could luck actually go my way for once? I proceeded to walk up to the video game counter and asked the clerk; she proceed to tell me that the vouchers (only 14 of them) were given out earlier in the day...strike one. The clerk did say that the Sam's Club right next door had 20 of them and that they would be handed out first-come, first-served at 7am.

2) Went to Sam's at 6:30am the next morning; found out that they had handed out the vouchers 15 minutes ago--strike two. I did overhear someone there mentioning that the local Costco supposedly had 120 of them and that the line was about 90 persons long as of a few minutes ago.

3) Drove to Costco, got there around 7:15am; saw the very long line. I was guestimating w/ my eyes that it looked like at least 100 folks in line; debated whether to just throw in the towel but something told me to walk up there just for the heck of it.

No strike three for me--I got voucher #93! The last voucher eventually got taken at 8:25am; IOW, had I known all this ahead of time, I could have gotten a good night's sleep and still would have been able to grab an Xbox360 on release date! My local Costco opened its doors shortly after 8:30--the significance of this is two-fold: one, Costco opens at 10am during the week...and that's just for Business/Executive members; and two, even then we were told that they would open earlier just to accomodate us, stating that they would open at 9:30. So, letting us in even earlier than stated made my wait in line that much less longer than I was expecting.

Random observations:

--I felt sorry for those folks who camped out overnight at Costco--especially when the night temps where I live are now in the low-40's--only to realize that they really didn't need to do so. Then again, perhaps they might have been thinking that the allotment might run out quickly, even at 120 units.

--As others have mentioned, the Costco bundle is $479; for that, you get the non-Core package, plus an extra wireless controller, a Play & Charge kit, and Kameo--essentially, $120 worth of extra stuff for an additional $80.

--Costco would not allow anyone not possessing their own membership card to receive a voucher; IOW, you weren't allowed to "borrow" someone else's card--even if it was from another family member. They were also asking for photo IDs in order to verify membership identity. And of course, it was one bunder per card...

--I'm guessing that Costco was able to get as many as they in part because there aren't as many Costcos as there are Walmarts. The general consensus was that many Walmarts were allocated maybe a dozen or so, at most. I mean, do any of you know of more than a few individual Target, CC, BB, or TRU stores that received an initial allotment anywhere near what (my local) Costco received?

Still haven't opened mine yet, since I'm currently at work...

After checking eBay, it appears as though the Xbox 360 faceplates that were given away at E3 are currently going for almost $300.00 - FOR A PIECE OF PLASTIC.

if it truly is an intention shortage, then my brother bought into it hook line and sinker.
He already had purchased 3 games an a wireless controller by this past Saturday. He went to CompUSA intending to get a Premium system. He got there at 2am and was 12 in line. Low and behold all they had left when it was his turn were core systems. I told him I would have just not purchased one but he bought the core. So he ended up buying an S-Video cable (I guess they were out of component cables) and will be buying the hard drive and a component cable. So right there he already spent more for less. I'll probably head over to his place to check it out but since he didn't buy a memory card and doesn't have an HD yet we won't be able to save.

I have played the 360. Its graphics are certainly impressive but I still plan on waiting for the Playstation 3. I only have enough money for one of them and the Playstation 3 is definutly the better value with slightly improved graphics and the golden Blu-Ray format. If I wasn't on a tight budget I would buy both.

Call of Duty 2 was my favorite of the games I sampled. Great visuals and and its so fun to shooting those fucking Nazis.

Kamino was a bit average but I have to applaud its orginallity. I am sure there hasn't ever been a game like it. Its basically a new genera.

King Kong the game is a rarity. A good movie based game. Being the king is so awsome.

...

I went to Sams at 6:30 today, and they have 20 premiums and Im number 14. I grab my 360, put it on the register, swipe my card...and I find out they don't take Mastercard.

Needless to say, I freaked out.

I asked the manager if there was any way they could hold it back so I could run home, and they said no...but that "there were 5 left, so to hurry back if I could get some money elsewhere." I run home, run back...and they're completely sold out.

Walking to the exit, my head down in shame, the checkout guy from before sees me and motions me to come over there. And next to him, under a pile of empty boxes he used to hide it, was a 360. "You looked like the only hardcore gamer here man, so I held one back for ya." (The rest of the people there this morning were adults buyin them for their kids, as I heard them complaining the whole time in the line )

Call of Duty is incredible. Wow.

That's really cool David. I hope you thanked that guy a bunch.

Man, I thanked that guy at Sams a ton, and in fact went back later in the day to let him know once again how much I appreciated it.

Wow, still cant get over that he did that.

The local news reported that one lady was held up at gunpoint for her Xbox 360.

I didn't make the trek out until this morning. I'm working 6 days a week until Christmas, am getting set to move, and have another baby on the way. (All since I said I was getting one on release day.) I figured if I was supposed to have one, there would be one for me, otherwise I would wait until later since I'm not going to have much time anyway. That said, headed out at 6:30am.

I drove by Best Buy knowing they had about 40 units, there were more than that in line, so I hit Target. 12 people or so in line. Walked up and said they must only have 12 units -- A guy in a Tigger sweatshirt was stuck outside working I guess, said all the units were set for those in line, they didn't have anymore. I got the look of ages when I said, "Huh, oh well." The few kids in line (around 21, I guess they count as kids now that I'm over 30 ) looked at me like I was mad. The guy in the sweatshirt said I could try Toys R Us, they might have some core units. I said, "Nah, I don't want that one anyway. I'll get one later. No biggie." Tigger apologized again as I was walking away. I felt bad, the guy must have been getting shit all morning. I think I was the first guy to not bust his balls about it, so he didn't know how to handle it. Circuit City, long line. Toys R Us had 10 people in line. The last guy said the units were all taken, but that he'd sell me his place in line for a core unit.

From there I hit Fred Meyer, thinking "Wild Card". Walked right inside where they were handing out the last few units. Out of luck there too. (Although Fred Meyer had more units than Toys R Us, Circuit City, and Target. It truly was the Wild Card.) Went to Costco, first one in line. Gal walked up to work, asked her if they had any, she checked, Costco didn't get theirs, just the North stores. I told her no biggie, I would go home and do dishes. Another look like I was completely mad.

So, why am I typing all this? Nope, not sour grapes. Good job to you guys/gals that got one. I'll get mine when it gets here. In the meantime, I'd like to think I spread a little goodwill this morning. Since I truly didn't care if I got one this morning or not (still left the house at 6:30am), I was happy to be able to politely tell the "door guards" that it was no problem and to wish them all a good day (since I can only think of the shit they were geting from countless parents and a-holes who didn't understand why they couldn't have theres now!)

Doug
(Spreading goodwill to the poor guys that drew the "line detail".)