Gamestop sells out of first wave xbox 360 units

I agree .... the latest Samsung LCD TVs (model LNRxx8x) are some of the best LCD TVs on the market right now................ I was quite surprised, because as you say, PC-Engine, Samsung are not known as an LCD TV manufacturer...

 

I think that'll depend on other retailers more... Practically all the GameStops and E/B's for like a ten mile radius claimed to have had the first 2 months of PSP shipments pre-ordered out, yet when it came to launch time you could still go to Best Buy, Toys R Us, or Walmart and get one since they had a first come first serve policy...

 

Everyone who knows anything about televisions do not judge a picture by what they see at a store since most often than not all the tvs have been adjusted and readjust by thousands of people. Bring one home and calibrated THEN do a comparison. The best tv can easily look the worst in the showroom if it's not adjusted correctly.

 

Demand will make a big difference also. At the PS2 launch people were sleeping outside Targets, Walmarts, etc... where I lived. It rained too (Washington State, so of course it would rain). If they they are aiming for 3M total, that may mean less than 1M at launch in the US. If MS can build a strong demand for the console it could be tight in some areas.

 

Thats the one thing I hate about my Gamestop. Everyone there is very friendly but if you even casually inquire about a game they will grill you to preorder it. I don't know hom many times a Gamestop employee has stressed to me that if I don't preorder I will not get X game for several weeks. It's so lame. My favorite's are "We may not have enough to cover are preorders.." or the classic "Better preorder now cause we never know how many they'll send us.."

The other day a Gamestop employee strikes up a conversation as I was checking out used games. Very nice guy. I casually ask him if the got alot of 360 preorders and he said the first shipment was sold out and if I even had a hope of playing a 360 by xmas I should preorder right now. He then goes on to tell me how the 360 will be very very hard to come by.. Bwahahahaha like he's been to the chinese plants.

The way I see it. If MS can't manufacturer enough 360's to meet demand this Xmas then they'll have a rough launch and therefor a rough generation.

 

Do not undervalue the positive PR you can get from "shortages"--even artificial ones.

If MS wants to hit the US with 1.5M of the 3M, they could easily hit launch weekend with 500K, and then quickly move the next 1M to back fill the hot spots.

And if they demand outperforms the supply, even for a week or two, it will hit the news. You will hear TV hosts saying, "If you want one this holiday season you better start looking now".

Anyhow, a good "shortage" is really good for any item in high demand. Just as long as it is not a real shortage that stretches on for months.

 

Thats a good point. It does buy free press and creates the illusion and then the reality of 360 being the "hot item". Sheeple that didn't plan on buying one, will want one cause they've been told they can't have it. Anyone remember the ps2 ebay bidding?

 

JVD thanks for the info. For what it's worth, the clerk at my local Gamespot didn't give details on shipments (first vs. second etc.); but I preordered both 360 and PS3 about a week and a half ago, and I was told 360 orders were already well over 100 (86th St. and 3rd Ave, NYC store). PS3 pre-orders were (sensibly) considerably lower, but they had received a few (didn't specify, but I'm guessing around a dozen). I haven't preordered any titles for 360 yet, but now that I think of it, 1 or 2 is a good idea, lest I have a $299 box and nothing to put in it... Anyway, just an anecdote, but interest appears pretty strong out there.

 

This has to be true since the guy at my Gamestop told me the same thing. I guess a bunch of MTV monkies went and put the X360 on reserve.

 

Thanks JVD, I'll have to go back and ask what they actually did and make sure it gets switched over so I don't get pushed to the back of the list. Obviously that would be very annoying since they did take my 50 bucks. Thanks for the tip.

 

So tru the day xbox launch, everyone was saying I won't get one, it's sold out everywhere, well i walked into Toy R US in times squre and pick up a xbox with 4 games, places like toy r us will get shipments faster if they sell out, because there name is bigger than EB games.

 

True toys r us isn't what it used to be but there name is still big, I live in NYC so i probably won't preorder my X360, because i know places that will sell the system first come, first server.

 

Well, that Toys R Us is probably one of the biggest toy stores in the nation I'm sure its every companies priority to make sure it keeps stocked.

 

On a side note, MS should not be already stockpiling the machine if they want to have 3 millions ready for the november launch? Any developper got the final kit yet or no ?