Microsoft "Guarantees" 360's by End of March

[overdrivechao]

I have no officially quotable sources for this, and it may be limited to my region, but retailers have been told (and thus the employees thereof) that 360 Ultimate and Core Pre-orders will be completely filled and stores will have extra overstock by the end of March, 2006. This comes in the way of a "guarantee" by Microsoft, to be relayed to customers as such. Please comment if you have seen the same.

Evidently it has something to do with a "second run" or iteration of the 360 hardware that supposedly fixes a few of the bugs in the first run.

[Rirath]

Evidently it has something to do with a "second run" or iteration of the 360 hardware that supposedly fixes a few of the bugs in the first run.

WTF? Can anyone confirm this? I've got my 360 on layaway right now until sometime next week, but if I need to drop it and get my cash back, now's the time to know. :eek: I thought the later shipped units weren't showing many problems? Maybe I'll give a local Gamestop a call, but eh... seems so wild rumor-ish.

[SMES]

WTF? Can anyone confirm this? I've got my 360 on layaway right now until sometime next week, but if I need to drop it and get my cash back, now's the time to know. :eek: I thought the later shipped units weren't showing many problems? Maybe I'll give a local Gamestop a call, but eh... seems so wild rumor-ish.

It is too early for any major hardware revisions, and although it is possible that Microsoft has changed the manufacturer of, say, the DVD drive or the number/locations of manufacturers producing the RAM, any alterations made to the fab lines at this point would be so minor it wouldn't be very newsworthy. In either case I wouldn't trust Gamestop employees as you go-to news source.

[Rirath]

In either case I wouldn't trust Gamestop employees as you go-to news source.

Much agreed of course, but if employees nationwide had received some word-on-high from MS of a guarantee, it would lend credibility to this story. Oh the things I've casually overheard at Gamestops. :rolleyes:

[GodFather]

yeah Im curious what these fixes were.

[fitbabits]

I checked with the GameStop near me and the manager said that MS are ramping up production for a proposed 'second launch' in the next month. They plan on having plenty of 360s in stock and MS are going to do a media blitz to coincide with Oblivion, GRAW and Burnout all being released.

[Salesmunn]

It's a good thing that they haven't released any games for the system, otherwise not having a 360 might upset someone.

[Rirath]

I think I'll keep my current 360. Even if they ramp up production, I'm just doubtful of any major fixes this early on. Maybe some steps were taken to overcome any manufacturing issues, but I myself am doubtful it'll be better cooled or less glitchy. And I've heard promises of stock before.

[drakkarim]

i'll wait till they fix the price, i'll be waiting a while, but then again, i have yet to see any reason to buy, even anytime in the near future.

[ldi222]

Sometimes shoddy hardware and rushed production is the price you pay for early adoption. Im still waiting for my 360 killer app though.

[overdrivechao]

I checked with the GameStop near me and the manager said that MS are ramping up production for a proposed 'second launch' in the next month. They plan on having plenty of 360s in stock and MS are going to do a media blitz to coincide with Oblivion, GRAW and Burnout all being released.

this was what i was looking for, not cheap jabs at gamestop employees. thx.

[Sl1pstream]

They should just give up, it's not like anyone's buying their system.

[rjcc]

I checked with the GameStop near me and the manager said that MS are ramping up production for a proposed 'second launch' in the next month. They plan on having plenty of 360s in stock and MS are going to do a media blitz to coincide with Oblivion, GRAW and Burnout all being released.

thing is, thats probably straight from the peter moore statement, except now it's been passed on as rumor, thats how most of the stuff gamestop employees will say "oh this came from corporate" stuff is.

[fitbabits]

thing is, thats probably straight from the peter moore statement, except now it's been passed on as rumor, thats how most of the stuff gamestop employees will say "oh this came from corporate" stuff is.
Possibly. I guess time will tell.

[easi]

I'd prefer "MS Guarantees 'some games I give a shit about' by NOW".

killer app

Choke.

[51|RandoM]

I'd prefer "MS Guarantees 'some games I give a shit about' by NOW".


heheh, that was what I was thinking. Just waiting on that exclusive that makes it worth the purchase. The games that look the best---to me---are getting PC versions at the same time, so far.

[easi]

Your next post will be your 1,337th.

For a while now RE5 has been my deadline for 360 purchase, but I could see myself picking one up for that zombie game if it turns out to be as great as I hope and playing Smash TV 'til June.

[Morrolan]

Wow. They sure are proud about being able to finally fill their PRE-ORDERS.

[Sykus]

So people who pre-ordered in October are now finally getting a guarantee that they'll get their system by the end of March? These are people who have already paid some or all of the cash owed for the system?

/snort

[Zanzibar]

I'm sure this has something to do with the third manufacturer finally being able to deliver systems.

[Achilles]

I'm sure this has something to do with the third manufacturer finally being able to deliver systems.That's what I was thinking as well.

Regarding the 'bug fixes' I doubt the fixes are things that the end-user would notice. Probably assembly line stuff or the ability to use parts from different vendors or something so that they can make more systems. Something clearly happened if they’re now confident that they can turn out enough of these things to meet the demand.

[Groo]

By "ramping up" production, they probably mean instead of making 1 Xbox 360 a month, they're going to make 2. That's double!

[ldi222]

I suspect a new hardware rev of the 360 aside from potentially blocking any early mod attempts will also be more stable than the first run.

[Cyotik]

My store finally just finished filling pre-orders last week. Thank god no more angry phone calls...

[Rirath]

My store finally just finished filling pre-orders last week. Thank god no more angry phone calls...

...Just wait til they actually use it.

Gah, I'm a 360 owner now... must stop mocking... :D

[fitbabits]

...Just wait til they actually use it.

Gah, I'm a 360 owner now... must stop mocking... :D
Dude, I had almost donned my angry pants untill I read your last sentence. :)

Welcome to Club 360 - membership is wonderful.

[TrainwreckX]

The Revolution will work out of the box and be widely availible for cheaper. It will have games, it will have revolutionary control, new gameplay, and a back library of dozens of classic games we enjoyed when we were younger.

Maybe I'll get a 360 when it competes with that. What's that? It has 1337 graphics? Humbug.

[Schnoogs]

The Revolution will work out of the box and be widely availible for cheaper. It will have games, it will have revolutionary control, new gameplay, and a back library of dozens of classic games we enjoyed when we were younger.

Maybe I'll get a 360 when it competes with that. What's that? It has 1337 graphics? Humbug.

Talk about the BULLSHIT post of the century. Seeing as we've seen so many Rev games and we've received so much feedback from revolution owners.

Oh wait its not out yet and your post is based solely off of wishful thinking.

[ElectricMonk]

my local eb has 360's in stock already

[Verocity]

Increase production? They must be doubling their 6 people chained to a sweat shop in China manufacturing the 360 consoles...

[bboy]

They should just pull stock from Japan as I see them sitting in the stores collecting dust.

/no interest in buying one myself...

[Cyotik]

Hey, if those chinese sweat shop workers didn't want to be chained up and forced to manufacture all our great toys then they shouldn't have... Umm... Shouldn't have been so chinese...

[overdrivechao]

Honestly, the re-launch effectively provides hardware support for the games worth buying in March. Unfortunately, all of them are coming out on PC so I still wont need a 360. Eventually they might do something 360 exclusive and I might have to cross over.

[buzzfunk]

I wonder how the development houses feel about the 360 still not being available everywhere. It just blows my mind that a company that big with all the money didnt foresee any problems. Something musta happen that was really out of MS hands. Lets hope they can get their act together rather fast or the 360 is doa.

And while some of the new titles are coming to pc as well, GRAW is a completley diff game on the 360. Burnout rev isnt out for the pc either.

btw, Target in LA had a dozen 360s in when i got mine. There was no lines, i was the only one buying one. I wouldnt even waste my time at EB or best buy. Target or sears is a better choice...

[Achilles]

I wonder how the development houses feel about the 360 still not being available everywhere. It just blows my mind that a company that big with all the money didnt foresee any problems. Something musta happen that was really out of MS hands. Lets hope they can get their act together rather fast or the 360 is doa.Whatever the case, even with the supply problems, the 360 is selling extremely well, has a ton of support and won’t be DOA unless the PS3 is really something amazing. Wait for numbers out of E3.

Concerning how developers feel about the shortages, it would be nice if there were more systems out there. I know that EA felt that it hurt the sales of their games initially. But people are buying so many games for it that complaints have pretty much faded away. At this point it’s considered ‘the platform’ among all the developers and publishers that I’ve talked to when it comes to next-gen stuff, they have more of a wait-and-see stance on the PS3 mostly because it's been so hard to get dev kits and solid numbers on things like launch dates and system stats. The hardware is also difficult to work with, so right now many people are only using the core, not the SPEs. Expect many games that run lower than 720p and allow the system to upscale it.

[peeweejd]

Yesterday I laid eyes upon almost 20 xbox 360s... It was the first time I had seen any available for sale to walk ins people.

Sam's Club had 15 premium bundles (premium, extra wireless controller, play and charge kit) for $450. Circuit City had 4 cores sitting there (they had a sign on the door claiming to have sold out of 14 premiums earlier in the morning (it was 11:00 when I got there).

Maybe there is truth to this.

[HardScores]

I doubt Microsoft will do this. I mean, once they're readily available NO ONE will want to buy them. 80% of 360 sales are people just wanting something that few people can have. My Wal-Mart had 2 and I was excited and going to buy one. Then I realized I don't polay many FPS games... and most of the games on the 360 are expensive rehashes ('cept Kameo... but that's short). Why should I spend 600 on it?

[SMES]

Today was the second time I saw stacks of 360s on a shelf, ready to buy. The first time was a month and a half ago at Costco, there were about 20.

Today was in GameCrazy, and there were maybe 10. I walked in, saw them, and asked "hey are those..." and the fella behind the counter said, "yep, they're up for grabs. Want one?"

I have one so I said no thanks, but then the guy said "I can't believe it, for weeks we have people coming in and calling every day, and now that we actually have them, they aren't selling!"

I asked him how long they've had them, and the guy actually said, "Since yesterday! We've only sold like 6 since yesterday!" I asked how many he thought people were going to buy in a 24 hour period, and while he was thinking of an answer I walked out because his voice was grating on my nerves.

Anyway, I did hear the same thing. I asked my local EB and they said they were even doing pre-orders for this second launch. He hadn't heard anything about changes to the hardware, but said he "wouldn't be surprised if MS had worked out the bugs for the new ones," whatever that means. Personally, I "wouldn't be surprised" if they cracked open the new ones and they were piece-by-piece identical to the lauch systems. I'd actually be surprised if they were different.

[Sl1pstream]

It might just be the auto-updates that the rest of us downloaded.