Xbox 360: The aftermath... Did you get one?

[Everlost_MI]

The first official day of the general public being able to purchase a 360 is here, or as of this posting T- minus 15 minutes Eastern.

So after all the madness of pre-orders and standing in line, did you end up getting one?

Share your 360 war stories.

[Everlost_MI]

I'll vote after 6 A.M. EST when I'll know if my alternate source came through. Otherwise, I'll be waiting until after Christmas when my pre-order is finally filled.

[Deadend]

I spent 8 hours at work explaning to people we are only getting 4 premimums, and NO, I will not let you get one now. Also I had to explain what the system was, and so many other things... 100 times, jesus I hate people.

[Pigeon]

I got called on Sunday night to get told I wouldn't get mine today. There's still 3 people ahead of me. Of course that meant I was too late to get the day off to wait in line anywhere. I went to two stores after getting out of work and then just gave up.

[Hewie]

I spent 8 hours at work explaning to people we are only getting 4 premimums, and NO, I will not let you get one now. Also I had to explain what the system was, and so many other things... 100 times, jesus I hate people.

I hate people too!

[Heretic Machine]

Won one with the Every10Mintues contest, and I'm playing it right now :p

[Thin_J]

Wal-Mart had a line that spoke for all 50 of their systems around 4pm this afternoon.

I drove past the local Best Buy that doesn't open for another 9 hours, and people are lined up around the corner of the building. There are easily more people there than the 54 systems the store got.

It's that way at every store that advertised the 360.

So here I sit, without a console. And you know what? It doesn't bother me as much as I thought :)

[Liquidize105]

Not right now, I'll try it at a friend's.

Maybe our office will get one.

[Evil Avatar]

I don't know about the system, but Gamestop and UPS fucked me. I ordered a VGA cable with overnight delivery and it never showed up. Now I'm going to have to fight with Gamestop to get my shipping costs refunded.

[Hewie]

Wal-Mart had a line that spoke for all 50 of their systems around 4pm this afternoon.

I drove past the local Best Buy that doesn't open for another 9 hours, and people are lined up around the corner of the building. There are easily more people there than the 54 systems the store got.

It's that way at every store that advertised the 360.

So here I sit, without a console. And you know what? It doesn't bother me as much as I thought :)

I'm jumping in the car now.

The plan:
-Drive to store with lineup
-Honk horn while waving wireless 360 controller out the window
-Laugh... on into zee night.

...or maybe I'll just stay home and play Halo 2.

[rein]

I don't know about the system, but Gamestop and UPS fucked me. I ordered a VGA cable with overnight delivery and it never showed up. Now I'm going to have to fight with Gamestop to get my shipping costs refunded.

VGA cables must be in short supply. I preordered one from my own damn store and didn't get it in. WTF? Why did you do me this way EB? Now I have to admit to everyone at EvAv that sometimes preordering is fucked.

[hund_]

you forgot the
i wouldnt buy a console because i have a pc option

seen it at walmart just seems like it caught up to pc last gen;)

[Sinistar]

Just got back from the local EB with one in hand. Funny, the Target right next door had a line of about 50 people waiting out the night. While that's not so bad, what does suck is that it's going down to the 40's here, in central Florida. Trust me that cold for around here.

[Pumped'Up]

you forgot the
i wouldnt buy a console because i have a pc option

seen it at walmart just seems like it caught up to pc last gen;)
lol, true dat.

yes, the 360 does look more and more unimpressive every day. Now that its out, MS should start worrying about the up and coming PS3 and Revo. The 360 is old technology already! (and the fugly unit design is absolute proof!)

[Herodotus5]

Here on Long Island, people started lining up out side my Best Buy at 2:00 pm today, even though we are not selling them until 9:00am tomorrow. When I left the store at 7:oo tonight there were about 200 in line even though we only got 106 in the store.

[Syl]

After Anandtech disected it and found out that the HD plug and DVD drive plug were both essentially S-ATA conncters, i'm just going to wait 6 month's or so, and get a slightly modified version that can use a higher quality DVD drive and a fucking 3.5inch drive instead of that overpriced 2.5inch 20 gig PoS they have in there.

[MagicAlex]

Y'know what's funny? I walked into a Gamestop a couple weeks ago, and I was in there for about 10 minutes before I even noticed the X-Box 360 kiosk.

I hope the crowd clears out by this afternoon. I have to go to Best Buy to pick up an iPod cable.

[Deathbane27]

Share your 360 war stories.

My 360 war story ended when Bethesda stated that the 360 would not be able to run player-made mods for Oblivion, at least at release. :)

When Halo 3 comes out, supply of the consoles themselves shouldn't be an issue.

[Joshinji]

Does the XBOX 360 have World of Warcraft?

Oh yeah...it doesn't. So I'll continue to not give two shits about this system.

[SuperMonkeyFighter2]

Job paid for mine :)

[Jetherik]

Since my wife would kill me if I bought one, I have never had the desire to - especially after she let me upgrade my computer to a 4000 Athelon, 1 gig ram, and a 7800 GTX...

[fitbabits]

Just picked mine up, along with PGR 3 and CoD 2.

Everlost - I hope your alternate source pans out.

[zangster]

Got mine. Sadly, it's too late for me to play since I have to work in the morning.

[kwillhan]

I preordered mine at Gamestop, but something you guys might find interesting... The district manager told us a few days ago that Radioshack is going to have a limited supply available for RSU ordering at the end of november. Don't know the exact day, but they certainly haven't advertised the fact, and there certainly isn't any lines.

I'll try to find more about the days tomorrow, and if the district manager was making shit up. We currently just have system 'bundles' (gamecube, ps2) so it will prolly be a bundle.

And RSU ordering is generally only done from in the store, not from Radioshack.com..

anyways. Will let you fellows know, or go check it out.

kel

[Deadend]

Since my wife would kill me if I bought one, I have never had the desire to - especially after she let me upgrade my computer to a 4000 Athelon, 1 gig ram, and a 7800 GTX...

Whipped, you are so whipped.

[Roman]

I had to wait a whole hour after waking up Saturday morning before it was delivered to my door. Although I did get a free copy of Kameo with it, I'll have to wait a whole week until Pepsi mails me a free copy of Madden 2006. A fucking pain in the ass, I tell you.

[Nite_Moogle]

Going to get one next year sometime. The holidays are too much of a spending crunch to drop $600 on a new xbox that I'll still probably mostly ignore in favor of WoW.

[kraemer]

Every Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, Sams Club, and Costco in Houston has a line of people out in front of it. The only store I dont have info on are the three Fry's we have here. I think MS is going to make even their best case scenario sales targets.

Yes, I forgot to mention Compusa and MicroCenter too.

[spacerat100]

i know a guy who went on leave (military paid vacation you get @ 2.5 days per month) to get in line to pick one up. It'd be funny if he didn't get it.

[Evil Avatar]

It is cool how many people still love WoW. I can't wait till <insert top secret month here> when Blizzard announces the 360 version.

[novicius]

EB sucker here. Gotta wait until tomorrow morning...

[pdeupree]

A sales paper ad for Fry's seems to indicate that they are only selling the system as a bundle. I forget what games they were listing with the bundle, but whatever they were, they weren't my idea of what I would "want". It will be interesting to see how that works out, but since demand seems high, and supply seems low, I imagine lots of people will eat the bundle even if they don't like the games in it.

They showed a news report today from the Best Buy just up the street from where I work. This place does special deals when certain things come up where they open at midnight to sell them, so they are doing that. I guess some people that got in line got pissed off that only the core systems were left, so the manager at the Best Buy is giving them a discount on accessories so they can "bring it up" to the premium system level for about the same price. To be honest, I can't imagine why he had to do that since people in line should have known supplies were short, but it was cool that they did it.

At 2 this afternoon I had to get something at Walmart and there were maybe 20 people in line.

Oh well. I've never preordered a console, and have never stood in line more than a half hour to get one on launch day, so I guess I might be out of luck getting a 360 at launch. I've got a stack of XBox, Gamecube, and PS2 games yet to finish, so it's just as well I don't add a new distraction.

[Evil Avatar]

Oh well. I've never preordered a console, and have never stood in line more than a half hour to get one on launch day, so I guess I might be out of luck getting a 360 at launch. I've got a stack of XBox, Gamecube, and PS2 games yet to finish, so it's just as well I don't add a new distraction.

I have Xbox games I still wanted to play/buy, but they aren't compatible with the 360. :rolleyes:

[Major Scud]

had the system all of 2 hours and perfect dark crashed my box...damn you microsoft....damn you!

[protojack]

I found out today that i was bumped to second shipment. The EB I pre-ordered from was getting less than 10.

So now I sit at home, stare at my Condemned box, and weep.

[Vandenh]

I am one of those amazing people who apparently have the ability to play and love WoW and *gasp* like the 360. Nothing in Europe yet though :) Riots are expected in Paris ;)

[EternalGamer]

Ugh. 8 hours in the lay away department in Walmart and I actually have my system. Too bad I cannot enjoy it that much, I am incredibly tired and I think I caught some type of flu sitting there because by the time I got ready to pick it up, I started feeling feverish and lightheaded. Something tells me I will be very happy I made the decision to wait it out, though. I don't think they are going to get easier to find anytime soon.

Dan

[Twigz'N'Berries]

EB sucker here. Gotta wait until tomorrow morning...
Exactly. Suckers cancelled their midnight opening when they would only get like 17 units. That isn't my problem or my fault. That being said, they still aren't opening those doors until 8. So I will be there at 7 to pick up my preorder. I want to get it and get home. I can't let Perigon rack up all the glory on his gamertag.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

had the system all of 2 hours and perfect dark crashed my box...damn you microsoft....damn you!You mean your Xbox 360 is ruined?? I may need to go pick up a 'backup system' (meaning go wait in a line) now.
I definitely don't want my box not to work...that would be horrible.

[Buddha Lotus]

I'm waiting till next year to get one after a few more games are out.

[Odyzen]

Whoo! its kinda cool that i can say i have mine and have had it since last week and i won it.

But then again i never did want one so im selling it. It's all hype to me. Taking that money and going to Vegas.

[Everlost_MI]

My 360 will arrive next year. My alternate source wasn't able to acquire one today. Ah, well. It's not the end of the world. But all those games I bought will stay nice and fresh in thier packages until the system arrives.

[Tinderbox]

I think I lucked out. I preordered back in early June only to be left in the cold by EBX. I went to the Bellevue, WA. best buy on a whim at 8pm tonight and got far luckier than i could've hoped. I get to pick it up tomorrow after 5pm.

[StoneGut]

I'm going to wait till early enxt year Feb / March for mine... seems like a good idea to me!

[Serapth]

I didn't get one, I got two. walk in at walmart posting on my phone

[DigitalFirefly]

I went to my sleeper store, Sears Essentials, this morning. I rolled up and there were about 6 people in line. There were also 2 cop cars there. The cops came over and told everyone in line that the systems were sold out and we could put our names on a waiting list. They said the store manager said atleast 2 weeks til they get a shipment in.

[Bad_Syntax]

I decided at work when everybody was talking about getting one not to. I asked a simple question of "What does this $400 bux get me"...

Best thing I heard was HD games...

But I have a dual xeon 3.6 w/6gb ram, a gforce 7800, and dual 22" monitors...

Since I'm not into sports games I'll just stay away until somebody hacks it. My current hacked xbox got a LOT more use then the unhacked one.

btw, I tried the HL2 gold coast addon thing, ran GREAT in 1600x1280, unfortunately I get sick playing it after <5 minutes, so I'll stick with WOW (which is the LAST online game I ever buy as its too addictive!).

For $400 I could buy 10 computer games better than anything for the xbox 360.... or better yet, I could get me a new 500GB drive to store porn!

Bad Syntax

[Vandenh]

>But I have a dual xeon 3.6 w/6gb ram, a gforce 7800, and dual 22" monitors...
>For $400 I could buy 10 computer games better than anything for the xbox 360

It could probably buy you a life as well... I hope you use those 22" for work as well ;)

[TheHulk]

I decided to wait for TES:O and Gears of War, but had to go to KMart this morning and get some things I needed to fix a screen door on my porch. I got there right at 8 and there were about 10 people there hovered around the customer service desk. I went and picked the tools and parts I needed and walked back up front to check out when I heard a lot of shouting. Evidently this KMart is getting their shipment of 360s in sometime later today by UPS and these guys were raising hell with the assistant manager because of it. I thought they were going to have to call the cops. It was actually a pretty funny scene.

[D_Reaper]

I attempted to get one, I went by my circuit city at about 10PM and I asked a guy on his way out how many they were getting. He said about 50.

This morning I got there a little before 8am, it turned out there was only 19 :(

So... I didn't get one. The people that spent the night out there came in at 11.
Oh well, I can't say I didn't try.

But! If there was 50 I would have gotten one for sure :D .

Edit: Also since I did not get one, I can put more time into DQ8.

[HeisinDC]

Same kinda thing happened at the Target I went by this morning, just to see if I could get one as a gift.

Little latino guys who had camped out heard that they couldnt get their XBOX360 right then, so they rushed the store manager and a security guard and 3 people (including me) had to pull them off.

[netcraazzy]

I'm the first guy on the preorder list at my local Gamestop to NOT get one on launch day. I'm holding out hope that somebody does not show to get theirs so I can get it :-) Attempted to camp out at Walmart but people are just too damn crazy and were already in line at lunch time yesterday. I also had a friend at a Sears Essentials store who was going to get one for me this morning but somehow they screwed up their shipment and don't have any yet.

[WastelandDan]

I got fucked by EB and am number 8 on the "second tier" preorder list. I spoke to the manager who I know though and he told me that they're only holding the system for 24 hours before the next person in line gets one that was preordered by someone else, and so far 6 people haven't responded about their machine, so I guess if in the next 24 hours eight people don't pick them up then I'll get one. I'm not holding my breath.

I'll say this much, it's the last time I ever preorder anything. I paid 50 bucks in advance 3 months ago for this? Fuck that shit.

[Spigot]

I was wondering why they were even bothering to advertise the 360 for Future Shop and Best Buy up here last week. Knowing the extensive shortages, the only possible explanation I can come up with is that it gets people into the store where they can be disappointed and buy a regular Xbox or something else instead. Though why you'd want to intentionally fill your store with pissed off customers is beyond me.

My wife said that she drove by the Best Buy in Mississauga this morning at 8am and the parking lot was completely full (which only happens on big geek days). I'm just very glad I don't work at any of the game stores which are probably done with the irate gamer crowd and now have to deal with the irate "grandparent buying stuff for the grandkids for Christmas" crowd.

As for me, well, I will wait till there are some must-have games. Gears Of War is looking like the first fantastic game. Condemned looks nice, but it's not a system seller for me.

One question: Is the premium version going to be available (with all the bells and whistles) after launch or will we be forced to buy a core system and all the extra stuff seperately?

[DropD98]

Well, I went around to a few places after work to just see if maybe I could pull off a miracle and find somewhere I could get one, then cancel my Gamestop pre-order, but pretty much gave up after seeing the lines. Lucky for me, I have been playing the World of Warcraft 10 day trial, and have been liking it a lot. So, I managed to find a copy for 29.99 and will be joining up after I move and get settled in to my new apartment this weekend. At least I have WoW to keep me occupied while I wait for my 360 to come in at Gamestop. I hope it's sooner than next year that I manage to get mine.... :(

[Spoon]

MokeyFighter, what do you do for a job? haha

[Chi-Town]

I got in line last night(7:40 PM) at a nearby Best Buy here in Chicago. I was 11th and they had 60 Premium units. It was a pretty cool night, lots of talking about games, someone even ordered a pizzza and had it delivered to them in line at 2a.m. Got my system a little after 8 this morning.

[ben_bot]

I got my 360 a few hours ago from a local Best Buy

I went to this Best Buy at 12 noon the day before release. They were releasing it the next day at 8 am. I was first in line! And I actually got it home and set it up by 8:20am :P

PS: 20 hour wait in 34 degree weather sucks.

[Stormwatcher]

I'll buy one whenever they cost less than 1000 dollars around here. MS-Brasil rep told a friend of mine, who's a game jornalist, that a legally imported Xbox 360 would cost around R$4200.00, which today is about US$2000.00. That makes it twice as much as a decent PC.

[Hewie]

I'll buy one whenever they cost less than 1000 dollars around here. MS-Brasil rep told a friend of mine, who's a game jornalist, that a legally imported Xbox 360 would cost around R$4200.00, which today is about US$2000.00. That makes it twice as much as a decent PC.

That's a deal and a half!

[Goronmon]

I'll get one if I can pick it up for a decent price.

[Neosho]

Am i the only one that finds it interesting that 60% of the people that have voted on the poll chose the "don't really care" answer? That's not exactly overwhelming xbox360 support, given that this site tends to be rather pro-xbox/ms.

[dragonstomp]

I got fucked by EB and am number 8 on the "second tier" preorder list. I spoke to the manager who I know though and he told me that they're only holding the system for 24 hours before the next person in line gets one that was preordered by someone else, and so far 6 people haven't responded about their machine, so I guess if in the next 24 hours eight people don't pick them up then I'll get one. I'm not holding my breath.

I'll say this much, it's the last time I ever preorder anything. I paid 50 bucks in advance 3 months ago for this? Fuck that shit.


ditto. i was 25/25 on the first tier of pre-orders. probably won't do that again.

[Montolio]

I picked mine up last night and made it home around 1 AM. There was a group of about 20 people waiting outside my local EB and every one of them had been called and confirmed to be there at midnight. The manager only let 5 people in the store at a time while other employees worked the rest of us for accessories and games. Amazingly that didn't annoy anyone like I thought it would. I couldn't get off from work today so I forced myself to go to sleep last night and I'll tear into it when I get home.

I preordered as early as possible for $50 and just gradually paid it off so I didn't feel the bite as much. I don't have much to say about the other nextgen consoles coming out next year because frankly they're not real yet.

They called off a bunch of names for people who didn't show and I guess they'll just pick it up today. They're pretty strict about the whole process and those people will only have 48hrs to purchase them (the clock started from the official phone call yesterday). I get the feeling that there will be some lucky folks getting surprising phone calls.

[Heretic Machine]

A friend of mine says that his friend went to Radio Shack and got like six premium system which they are shipping to him. So, if you haven't gotten one yet, check with your local Radio Shack.

[kathode]

Am i the only one that finds it interesting that 60% of the people that have voted on the poll chose the "don't really care" answer? That's not exactly overwhelming xbox360 support, given that this site tends to be rather pro-xbox/ms.
A little surprising, but judging from the lines outside the stores, I'm not sure there's much to worry about.

[WastelandDan]

I found out earlier that someone in my Warcraft guild has apparently bought 24 systems. Supposedly they have some sort of "in" with the manufacturer which is how they had access to so many and they plan to flood ebay with them three weeks before christmas. Assuming it's true, I have to say I'm pretty sickened by it. I know that some places didn't put a customer purchase limit on them, Sams Club for example, but 24 units for one person? It's unthinkable and I can only hope they're lying.

[Phades]

After sitting out in the cold and damp for 13 hours I got one of the bundles from Costco. Great deal, it came with the Premium system, Kameo, and extra wireless controller, and a Play and Charge rechargeable battery all for $479. That's about $40 cheaper than that'd all be retail and much better than Best Buy's $600++ bundles they required you to get.

Only down side is I was actually doing it to give to my brother for Christmas. I'll get one eventually though, probably after Oblivion comes out.

[SMES]

After sitting out in the cold and damp for 13 hours I got one of the bundles from Costco. Great deal, it came with the Premium system, Kameo, and extra wireless controller, and a Play and Charge rechargeable battery all for $479. That's about $40 cheaper than that'd all be retail and much better than Best Buy's $600++ bundles they required you to get.

Only down side is I was actually doing it to give to my brother for Christmas. I'll get one eventually though, probably after Oblivion comes out.

I too sat outside best buy in a comfy chair, and whoever said they were 11th in line- ironically I was also exactly 11th in line. Weird, eh?

Anywho, they were working us over for the bundles all night long and I just kept my mouth shut. The next day when they finally let us in the bundle pressure became intense, and when i got to the register and they asked what accessories I wanted, I said "Oh I only have exactly enough money for the premium system, and since I waited 15 hours outside on the curb for it that is what I'll be buying"

All the "But, but..."s in the world didn't persuade me otherwise and both me and my brother walked out of there having spent 399 plus tax each.

A lot of other people were buying tons of accesories, but I already had the games I wanted waiting at home and I sure as heck wasn't going to buy faceplates or an extended warantee.

[Kadoo]

Neosho, this is probably skewed by the fact that people who actually got it are prolly playing it. Too busy to do anything else.

[TheHulk]

Went out and treated myself to God of War to help the ol' gaming fix...

[Durandal-217]

I'm not buying the 360 until the price comes down.

Or until HALO 3 is announced.

[Phades]

I too sat outside best buy in a comfy chair, and whoever said they were 11th in line- ironically I was also exactly 11th in line. Weird, eh?

Anywho, they were working us over for the bundles all night long and I just kept my mouth shut. The next day when they finally let us in the bundle pressure became intense, and when i got to the register and they asked what accessories I wanted, I said "Oh I only have exactly enough money for the premium system, and since I waited 15 hours outside on the curb for it that is what I'll be buying"

All the "But, but..."s in the world didn't persuade me otherwise and both me and my brother walked out of there having spent 399 plus tax each.

A lot of other people were buying tons of accesories, but I already had the games I wanted waiting at home and I sure as heck wasn't going to buy faceplates or an extended warantee.


That's interesting. The Best Buy where we stopped by was actually making you buy the bundles or you couldn't get it. They even had an employee that was supervising and let you know when you got there to join the line. They handed out fliers telling you the options available. Each package was numbered with the amount of those available. It was pretty much exactly the same as what EB offered online. Their most expensive option (and strangely, the one they had the most of available... how about that) was $1k. There was no chance in heck I was doing that, or risking not getting one, so I left.

[IndependentGMR]

The systems are going for $1,000-$3,000 dollars on Ebay. Insanity.

[Kelegacy]

This poll is a small sampling of people, but I'm surprised at how many aren't interested in the launch. And here I thought I was one out of only a handful on EvAv that wasn't keeping Microsoft's nuts warm with my mouth.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

Well, I remeber Peri being pretty down on the 360 until he got one for free. Then his tune changed greatly. I have it and love it so far. The interface design is sweet. Sony would do well to copy it.

[Spigot]

I wonder how many people are like me. Interested, but given the shortages and such not ready to run out and sell my kidney for one.

[smcclain]

I have one- sorta- UPS forgot to put it on a truck this morning.. so I'll get it tomorrow- in theory...

[Kelegacy]

I wonder how many people are like me. Interested, but given the shortages and such not ready to run out and sell my kidney for one.
No one here is like you. No EvAvers are interested in Llama porn.

Okay, so fitbabits is like you.

[Spigot]

No one here is like you. No EvAvers are interested in Llama porn.

Okay, so fitbabits is like you.

About time I had some company over at fuzzyllamalovin.org

(Please don't let that be a real domain...)

[XenonCJ]

What's it look like for 2nd round availability? Anyone know when these companies are going to get the next shipments?

[Major Scud]

turns out my premium system I got is defective. of the 4 systems my gamestop sold 3 of them were defective with the same intermitent lockup problem. took me almost 45 minutes on hold to get someone, and she said shes been hearing this same problem all day. microsoft said it'll take a week and a half to send me a new one. :( Right after I got off the phone I filled out the extended warranty card, wrote a check for $60 and popped em in the mail (I have a bad feeling about this system now).

on the plus side I bought a second unit for my brother for x-mas and he isnt coming down to pick it up til december. I told him what happened to mine, and since I waited 15 hours for his he said I could play his til mine came back, so I'll still see you all on xbox live ;)

edit my live gamertag is : Maj0r Scud

[Kelegacy]

turns out my premium system I got is defective. of the 4 systems my gamestop sold 3 of them were defective with the same intermitent lockup problem. took me almost 45 minutes on hold to get someone, and she said shes been hearing this same problem all day. microsoft said it'll take a week and a half to send me a new one. :( Right after I got off the phone I filled out the extended warranty card, wrote a check for $60 and popped em in the mail (I have a bad feeling about this system now).

on the plus side I bought a second unit for my brother for x-mas and he isnt coming down to pick it up til december. I told him what happened to mine, and since I waited 15 hours for his he said I could play his til mine came back, so I'll still see you all on xbox live ;)

edit my live gamertag is : Maj0r Scud

Maybe MS is trying to copy Sony's success by making defective systems.

So a Microsoft rep told you she was hearing this stuff all day, or was it a Gamestop employee? Either way, that's some seriously bad stuff for Day 1. At least the DRE for the PS2's happened later on, after you had actually PLAYED the system.

[Spigot]

What are they using for the OS? Win95? Yeesh. Kelegacy's right. At least the PS2 died a month or two later. I thought Xboxes were nigh indestructible.

[JediSanf]

Managed to get one from the Sam's Club Business Card deal. Had to run for it but kudos to whoever posted that yesterday.

The downside: It's for my little brother so I'm trying to decide whether to wait and play with him for the first time.

[DefeatEd]

My fiance and a couple of our friends stood in line @ the 24hr Wal-Mart in (blessedly sales-tax free) Salem, NH. We got there about 9PM. A sign was posted: 32 premium, 16 core. Alas, we were #54 (55, 56) in line, and missed out. :(

So, we high-tailed it for the (not-so-super) Wal-Mart in Tewksbury, MA, a little after midnite. The store wasn't open until 7AM, but there were already 21 people in line :eek:

Luckily, they had 30 premium and 16 core! (Even if it meant we had to pay a little sales-tax ;) )

(Also: it was pouring rain, in both states (!) during our total ~10 hrs in line. Ahh, good times :D )

[kwillhan]

A friend of mine says that his friend went to Radio Shack and got like six premium system which they are shipping to him. So, if you haven't gotten one yet, check with your local Radio Shack.

Yah... I went to work today and there was a memo that said all of our xbox's were sold out within like 3 hours. Who knows when we'll have more available. If it's anything like the ipod, prolly never. :)

kel

[Salat]

I first headed to one of the local WalMarts on Monday night, and found that they had 43 units, and 43 people waiting in line. I then tried my luck at Best Buy, and lo - I was number 17 in line. Unfortunately, here in Mobile, the one Best Buy wouldn't open at midnight, so I waited with about 50 other gamers until 9am. It was pretty chilly - about 40 degrees, and someone brought in a backyard fire pit, and part of the crew went hobo and played the harmonica around the fire. A couple times through the night, BB provided hot chocolate, coffee, and doughnuts.

Around 6AM the BB employees handed out tickets for the premium and core systems, and announced that anyone without a ticket wouldn't get a system. Between 6AM and 9AM about 100 other folks showed up and were turned away. At 9:00 the doors opened, and what was a pretty orderly line devolved into a mad free for all to get into the store. I wasn't going to push people out of my way, so I ended up near the end of the line in the store. By 10AM, after 11+ hours of waiting, I had my premium system in hand. Waiting was half the fun - ok - maybe 1/10th the fun. COD2 and PD0 are the other 90%.

[Xerxes]

The reason i voted "I didn't, I don't want one - at least not right now, if even then. " is cause that price break after abotu 6 months LAST time was kinda like "damn." Shit wasn't even out yet. All we had was halo and a few other games. Then price break happens, games coming out, and it just seemed like a waste. I got my system before most, and had some fun but it wasn't like I couldn't wait to get one. Hell where the fuck is oblivion. Yeah, I can wait. Get my premium box for $350

[Moab Bomb]

No, seriously, six premies (the system, NOT babies)! We pre-ordered 2 a week or so after E3 at Gamestop in Grand Junction, CO (the nearest game store, 100 miles from Moab, Utah), then we won Zero Hour tickets. At Zero Hour, we bought two and then uh, bribed (for a reasonable fee) two other great folks into selling us their systems. If you were there, you probably saw us-we were hard to miss. My wife and I are the size of a damn walrus and had personalized Xbox plates hanging around our necks. After we left at about 11 pm local, we drove past the Victorville, CA Target and watched the poor lost souls camping out-Then we drove past, flashing 2 360s at the wretches, honking and cackling merrily. Was that a dick move? Yes, yes it was. Fun, too.

So, are they going on ebay? Nope-We have a small game center (launchpadgamecenter.com) and these are for our customers to game on. And no, they are not left in the store overnight, so don't get no ideas, Bub!

So far, no problems to report-all are functioning dandy. The 360s do churn out a whole buttload of heat, though. I can see how, if ya set up a 360 in a fancy-pants entertainment center, with the system stashed where it can't ventilate, would overheat.

[SMES]

That's interesting. The Best Buy where we stopped by was actually making you buy the bundles or you couldn't get it. They even had an employee that was supervising and let you know when you got there to join the line. They handed out fliers telling you the options available. Each package was numbered with the amount of those available. It was pretty much exactly the same as what EB offered online. Their most expensive option (and strangely, the one they had the most of available... how about that) was $1k. There was no chance in heck I was doing that, or risking not getting one, so I left.

I really didn't mind being worked over. They made it pretty clear that the bundles were "required" but they didn't mention it until like 10 PM, after I'd been in line for hours already.

I made a gamble and assumed that I would be able to weasel my way out of too much of a bundle. My instincts turned out to be correct. We also had a salesperson hand walking us through the line to make sure we had sufficient accessories, etc. However, that's when I knew I would be able to get out of there with little or nothing, because I knew their computers would let me ring up items seperately. So after the guy loaded my cart with a controller and two games, and he walked me to the register, he walked back to the line to get another person and I ditched the games and controller back in the pile.

Maybe a little slimey since they gave us pizza, cheeseburgers, donuts, and excellent line management. But I dont like having stuff pushed on me so I'm not going to lose any sleep.

[mikeohara]

this is exactly why I decided to wait until after the first of the year ... not worth the crap of standing in line for 15+ hours to be charged an exorborant amount of money for a 360, three games I may not play, and things I may not want or need.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

this is exactly why I decided to wait until after the first of the year ... not worth the crap of standing in line for 15+ hours to be charged an exorborant amount of money for a 360, three games I may not play, and things I may not want or need.

Or, you could have preordered early and avoided any of this. That is what I did. Besides, it is actually kind of fun sitting in line waiting. You strike up random conversations with fellow gamers, people will kick back and play cards or listen to music...its weird. Even though I had my system I camped out trying to get another one to EBAY...I had a blast.
As for stores adding extras or "bundling", it just depends on what store you go to. But, rumor has it that the next shipment may be hitting retail within the next week.

[bean19]

No poll result for:

I got mine because I was #10 on my June preorder and only 7 units arrived, but then I waited 12 hours in the cold for one and it only worked for 6 days, so I returned it before learning about Microsoft's excellent free overnight shipping/5-day replacement plan and now must wait for the fabled second shipment.

Anyway, that's my true poll reply.