Slashdot Mirror
Where In The World is the 360?
Chris Kohler's Game|Life column wonders aloud Where is the 360? Despite assurances from Microsoft that more units are making their way to retail channels, it is still effectively impossible to get ahold of one from a store. From the article: "So, uh... where's the press release for Xbox 360? The congratulatory hype over how much cash they pulled in during the first 24 hours? Xbox dot com has nothing. Were it not for that Halo 2 press release, I wouldn't be asking, but... For that matter, where's the 360 itself? It's now been over two weeks since the launch of the 360, and that nebulous ether affectionately referred to as 'the retail channel' has not seen a single additional Xbox 360 unit. How do I know? As has been well-documented here, I had a preorder reservation placed at the downtown EB Games that was originally supposed to be a launch-day unit but got bumped back to 'second shipment.'" Kotaku has commentary on this as well. I'm in a similar situation as Mr. Kohler, since Slashdot is not cool enough to receive a review console.
In Microsoft's labs working out the kinks they should have solved before shipping it in the first place.
I.e. don't be sad you can't get the Xbox360, chances are by the time you get one, it will be version 2.0 of the device that actually works.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Ding! That's why I'll probably end up getting one around this time next year(when all the kinks are worked out, and it'll be cheaper too!). That and Live Arcade.
Between the Revolution's download services, and the 360's live arcade service, I should have enough to never ever have to put an actual Rev or 360 disc in a drive.
The PS3 has all the "meh" aspects of the 360 and no cool online service to make me even remotely interested. Plus, after going through 3 PS2s, I'm not too inclined towards buying Sony things atm.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
On EBay, which currently accounts for 10% of all 360 sales. Looks like prices from $550 to $1000. I kept wondering why the XBox was being manufactured for shortages, when M$ wasn't taking advantage of shortage pricing, but instead pricing under cost*. One article raises the speculation that the secondary market might be intentional.** Maybe M$ decided it prefers an auction economy, perhaps to dodge allegations of price gouging, which are apparently all the rage, for better or worse.
Seriously. Microsoft actually could economically use the insane demand levels to their advantage, and I'm actually surprised that they aren't. From a business/economic standpoint, considering that they do have a real shortage (as opposed to a fake one which they're being accused of) on their hands, it's completely nuts that they're still intentionally selling at a loss in a market where they are the only supplier.
Personally, I think Microsoft simply hired all of the Argintinean Economists who have been out of work since 2002.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Every day, I go looking for an XBox 360 in Philadelphia, PA. No dice. I keep getting quoted arrival times like "maybe February?"
During this daily ritual of frustration, I see tons of 360 accessories and games sitting on the shelf. Actually, there are the exact same numbers of items on the shelves on return visits. Nothing is selling. Same number of WI-FI adapters on the rack. Same number of copies of Quake 4 as last week. And, so on. Are the retailers not pressuring Microsoft for more units? I mean, Best Buy and Wal-Mart can't be happy with the number of 360 related items taking up shelf space that aren't moving. They should be furious with MS.
I thought Wal-Mart would have put Bill's nuts in a vice by now. Or, at least, threatened to send the unsold games and accessories back to MS until more console shipments are forthcoming.
Sure, Windows PCs dominate the market. But so do cheap toupees.