I don't see why people expected stores to have them on Black Friday... that would probably mean that stores themselves held them back, as wasn't the launch just days before Black Friday? And I don't see how you can hold any back when you have an angry mob waiting overnight for them. Not to mention that even without the 360, people came in droves on that Friday. Would having a dozen 360s really increase the turnout?

Hmm... I work in Burbank. Should've checked Target.

I'm sure they're trickling out, and that they're hitting more stores than just that one target in Burbank,but I'm also pretty sure that 99% of the people that find them are not posting on even the most frequented videogame message boards. So we'll get sporadic reports here and there, but by no means is that a comprehensive list. In addition, because of the ebay factor, these will be snatched up by just about anyone who sees them in the store.

I do agree that MS screwed up IF they are unable to get many more out there before Xmas. If they do, however, it's marketing genius. And unfortunately Sony will follow suit.

FWIW, I stopped by Target this morning around 9:00 on my way to work here in South Jersey, and there were no 360s to be seen. They still had their "no 360 hardware due to high demand" sign in the section where the 360s would be.

On the plus side, they did have Gunstar Super Heroes for the GBA for $20, so I picked that up.

just called local targets and wal-marts -- none received since launch. i, too, have never had this much of a problem finding a console or "hot item" for this long after a launch.

what exactly was MS thinking when they launched their new console on the tuesday before thanksgiving? had they never heard of black friday? i understand that they in no way could ever hope to have stock on the shelves for black friday, but what do they think average joe will think? if anything they are alienating a customer base that will vanish after the holiday spending season.

kms

Not necessarily. Units that were available for Tuesday's launch arrived at stores the previous Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Microsoft had been claiming that this was a highly orchestrated, highly planned launch, with weekly deliveries to stores. It isn't that much of a stretch to think that stores would receive ANOTHER shipment on Tues, Wed, Thurs for Black Friday.

What DIDN'T make sense was (A) having such little stock available at launch AND (B) not having ANY on Black Friday.


Availability of 360s on Black Friday wasn't about increasing turnout... that wasn't possible, it was already at the max. It was about having access to the largest number of customers on a single day, with perhaps the most money available.

Given what happened on Tues' launch, I bet that MS could've sold 2 million 360s on Black Friday if they had the units available. After all of the stories and hype on Tuesday, and reports of 360s going for $1000's on eBay, everybody and their brother would be willing to buy one... even if they weren't initially interested in it.


YOU may "be sure" that they are trickling out, but that is NOT what MS spokespeople have been saying, and it isn't what store managers are saying, and it isn't what Anybody else is saying. Even if employees did divert store stock to ebay, SOMEBODY would be bragging about the fact that they did it.

There is no evidence of this "weekly shipment" that MS has been saying. The dept managers that I personally know have told me BEFORE the launch that they are only receiving a shipment for launch and one more shipment before Christmas. So far, their statements appear to be truthful.

I agree with 99% of what you're saying. I will tell you, though, that I install high end home theaters for a living, and when I tell people about Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, they generally roll their eyes and say "I'm not buying that."

I'm not sure that blu-ray is going to be a killer app. I have seen it in action, and it's not very impressive compared to a good DVD. I really don't think the mainstream audience is going to buy them. I see it just like CDs vs. SACD: multiple formats offering a questionable (to the average person) improvement in quality.

If MS can get Halo out in 2006 (which I think is nearly impossible), we're going to have a shoot-out. Without it, it's a much tougher call. Either way, MS screwed the pooch with this one. They could have taken a DOMINATING lead into 2006.

Am I to understand that my Target in Burbank may have been the only store that got them this weekend? And that I was within minutes of getting the last one they had?..........

I'm not sure how these shipments work, but considering Thanksgiving was a holiday for almost everyone, I'm not sure they could have gotten a shipment in on Thursday. That leaves Wednesday as a day to get more 360s in with enough time to stock them by Friday morning. Again, if they could have produced more in that short of a time, they might as well have produced them for the launch. Not to mention that, according to some reports, they're losing a lot of money manufacturing these... maybe they just can't pump them out fast enough at the cost they want to. Any maker of the "hot" product for Xmas should want to pump out as many as they can sell, but it hardly ever happens... you may have found Tickle Me Elmo and a furby in years past, but there were still extreme shortages of them until after Xmas.

Someone earlier in the thread said that Sears got a second shipment. Also, online stores are getting some in stock (unless they intentionally held back stock). Best Buy seems to be hoarding them for a specific date. I understand the ire in not getting one, but believe me, if they could, MS would sell you and everyone that wants it one right now.

How many did they give away with every 10 seconds promo and how badly do you think they could go back into time and change it to every 10 days instead of seconds?

Or just maybe hold off the World wide release until after the new year. I think this was the lamest part of this release.

I think I heard 9,000

Yeah, I don't see why MS would not produce as many as demanded. although, I guess they lose $130+ per console, so that could be a factor. But, I really think MS would want to put them in the stores.

Did the launch date surprise Microsoft? I can't think of any other reason why the stores around the cities got 20-40 or so units at launch (and the Best Buy down the street from the corporate office got almost 200 total) and not a single one since.

Stores should be getting dozens of units every week at least. They would still be hard to get, but at least they'd be available if you worked at it.

perhaps the prediction in this link explains some of the shortage. if IBM cannot churn out the number of PPC chips necessary to meet their production predictions, it really does not matter what MS plans or projects.

A failed launch isn't a shortage; a failed launch is where there are units left on the shelves.

I don't see what the thought process is behind the idea that MS messed this up. These kinds of shortages are unfortunate for those of us that can't get a console, but shortages and hype have not historically been factors that decrease demand.

I don't think most of these are being given as Christmas presents either. $400 is a lot of money, and there's nothing particularly kid-friendly in the launch lineup. I don't think the success of this launch is contingent on parents getting it for their kids for Christmas. While some of the college-age and adult men who will be getting this may receive it as gifts, if they don't, they'll still want to get it. The fact that many of these people will not be able to get an Xbox until January doesn't mean they'll wait until August or October for a PS3, especially when PS3 isn't any better than XBox 360.

My interpretation is that the systems are technically comparable, and Microsoft is willing to lose more money per unit to get its console to the market first. Microsoft seems more concerned with breaking Sony and taking over the console market than with actually making money on the Xbox in the near future. The original Xbox had the shortest lifespan of any console that wasn't deemed a failure. I doubt Microsoft ever broke even on it, but they got celebrities playing it, they got it on television, and, despite being enormous and bulky and ugly, they create a brand around it that's probably as strong or stronger in North America than the Playstation brand.

Bill Gates seems to have some conception of an entire wireless home that runs on Windows, and he sees the Xbox as a way of getting Windows into the living room. I think we're seeing MS do whatever is necessary to eat Sony's lunch.

As for PS3, it's the one that's going to face an uphill battle. In a year, there will probably be ten million xboxes sold in North America, and the PS3 doesn't seem to have significantly better technology to appeal to the large segment of the market that views the Xbox and PS3 as essentially interchangable.

The only big exclusive thus far for PS3 seems to be Metal Gear, which looks awesome, but which probably won't sell the system. MGS and MGS2 where huge titles, but compared to Splinter Cell, Metal Gear seems a bit... esoteric.

I think you're missing the point, Scandal. The fact is, Microsoft is in a distant second place to a very strong PlayStation brand, and if they do indeed intend to sell 10 Million units by the time PS3 launches (which, btw, you can't really say is equal to 360 being no one has seen final games on the thing), they need to sell them while they're hot.

Sony can pull the "shortages=hype" dance, because they are the industry leader, and until somone dethrones them, it will remain that way. Microsoft is trying to make up some ground by launching early, but if there are no consoles available to sell, there is no way they can catch up.

I wouldn't say that this was a failed launch for Microsoft, but it could have gone a lot better for them. The more Sony shows of the PS3 (read, this January at CES), the more interest they will generate towards them and away from the 360. They need to sell 360s now while they are whats on people's minds.

If you do not think that kids are getting these as Christmas presents, then you either a) don't know many kids or b) live somewhere very different than were I live.

what DamingR said.

Actually, it's all just based on sales, and with the shortage we can't really gauge the success yet.

I mean if you launch with a million units, and only sell 500,000 and have a ton left on store shelves, it's a failure. But it's no different if you launch with 400,000 and sell them all, and have 100,000 people looking for them and not finding them. Obviously the numbers are made up, but you get the drift.

Ok... I apologize for not reading all 35 pages, but I see the core system with like 9 games and a couple extras for nine-fiddy at etoys:
http://www.etoys.com/genProduct.html...98778/ctid/19/



The premium system shows as "in stock" when you search, but you can't add it to the cart.

"Sorry, this product sold out after you added it to your shop cart."

Also, my opinion on why this is a failed launch is that after Christmas, I think the demand will drop. The hardcore gamers will still buy one, but as mentioned above (somewhere), those who are looking to buy there kids this for Christmas will have spent that money elsewhere. As a matter of fact, the closer we get to Christmas and no 360's on the shelf the less money parents will have to buy this. Just my opinion, of course.

Well, I would not quite equate those two things... there is a difference in selling everything you have and having half your stock left over (given similar numbers)

However, it would seem to me that if Microsoft does not get more units into stores soon (no matter where the issues are), then they will be missing out on holiday sales (along with holiday sell through of accessories and games) and they will also be buying free bad publicity. I realize they are not making $$ on each console at this point, but they would stand to make money on games & accessories which would be higher at this time of year.

Initially driving up demand with an engineered shortage could have been beneficial, but at this point its not looking like this was engineered (not successfully anyway). Now its starting to look like there is a real supply issue of some sort, such that even those willing to go to great lengths are having trouble getting consoles.

If those folks who were willing to stand in line were actually getting consoles in fairly large numbers then the secondary buzz from word of mouth would certainly drive up demand as well, and basically that's not happening now.

Yep... Now it does that for me as well... I added it twice before I posted, so it was up for at least 10 minutes.

Around 9,000 systems. All of them Core systems. I talked with 2 people that won, and they were Core. Still it was free, and even buying the parts to make it equal to a Premium bundle, you'd still spend less overall.

And as a bonus, you would actually have it.

listed now as "sold out"