xBox 360: Still Shortages?

[rexallllsc]

I still can't find one anywhere.

It's really funny going into Best Buy for the last 4 months, seeing the HUGE xBox 360 displays and game racks, virtually untouched.

Doh!

[ThunderingHERD]

I heard that starting tommorow Circuit City is going to have them in stock, at least 12 premium units per store.

[Mustang]

Just in casual browsing, I've never seen them at Best Buy, 1x at Target and 1x at Walmart... (I go into Target and Walmart pretty frequently too)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I got mine at Best Buy, but I consider myself fortunate. rexalllsc, are you actually looking to buy one? If you are, you should probably download the XBox 360 Availability Tracker program.

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I got mine at Best Buy, but I consider myself fortunate. rexalllsc, are you actually looking to buy one? If you are, you should probably download the XBox 360 Availability Tracker program.

I am, thanks for the info.

[gstelmack]

I picked one up last Sunday evening sitting on the shelf at Target. Last one, and just a Core unit, but it was there.

This was for my non-net-connected brother-in-law, so the Core package was just fine for them.

Shortages are supposed to be coming to an end right about now. Microsoft has straightened out the memory chip supply issues by adding another supplier, and has added another console manufacturer (all according to published reports over the last 2 weeks), so more are rolling off the lines. Biggest issue right now is demand still hasn't dried up; I know EB online (was checking every day) was on a "due to demand, orders placed today won't ship for 1-2 days" kick for about a week, then jumped ahead to "won't ship until the middle of March", so they must have sold out of a batch.

One local EB says they are still trying to fill pre-orders, another says they're getting them in regularly but selling them almost immediately.

It's getting better, but demand is huge so they are still being gobbled up as fast as they hit the shelves.

[hukarez]

I've been on the fence and kind of waiting to pick one up, but my other buddy went online and did the international route.

It was a link for a place that was selling an Xbox 360 Premium bundle with 6 games (Call of Duty 2, Gun, and some others I can't quite recall) for only $380.

Thing was, the minimum 'order' for purchasing from the place was like $580 or $590, so he ended up picking up a 42" Samsung LCD for $800 or so.

[astrosfan64]

I love my 360. I think it is a great system.

[Eaglesfan27]

I really like mine as well.

I'll be enjoying it even more once some more good games come out, and once I get a big screen high-def TV which looks like it will happen in the next few months.

[cartman]

Here's an XBox 360 inventory tracker. You put in your Zip code, and it tells you when a local Best Buy or Circuit City has one in stock.

hxxp://untitlednet.com/

[Mustang]

Game Stop and EB games are taking preorders for April 1st this week...

[AgustusM]

bleh - I am so put off by the way Microsoft has marketed this, I don't even care to buy one now.

Plus the bundle deal is annoying - I only play sports games so I don't want to buy a bundle of a bunch of games I don't want and won't let my kids play.

[Grammaticus]

I've found core systems available but no premium. I've been holding out for a premium.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

bleh - I am so put off by the way Microsoft has marketed this, I don't even care to buy one now.

Plus the bundle deal is annoying - I only play sports games so I don't want to buy a bundle of a bunch of games I don't want and won't let my kids play.

So don't buy a bundle deal. Any brick-and-mortar retailer will sell you just the box. It's only the online retailers that are trying to screw you by forcing you to buy a bundle

[kentontrace]

I've had my 360 since the 1st of the year. Its a great system - the only thing that is really lacking is games. If sony is smart - not only will they have plenty of systems ready for launch but have a wider game selection also.

[Bee]

I'm really surprised about how hard they are to find still. I had thought they would be everyplace by now. I'd think the longer these shortages continue the more people will wait for the PS3 to come out and then decide which one to buy.

I haven't seen any XBOX 360s on a store shelf yet, although I don't spend much time shopping in retail stores. When I do go to a retail store I usually go and check out the electronics section and I've been watching for 360s just to see when they'll start to show up for casual shoppers.

[Kodos]

I was initially interested, but now I am holding out until I here more about when PS3 launches in the US and for how much. The lack of great games on it makes this fairly easy to do.

[stevew]

So far in all my trips around, I've seen exactly 1 core system, and 3 premiums on the shelf. I'll probably look to get one around the time that NCAA 07 comes out, as there really arent that many games out there for it that I've gotta have. And the Backwards compatability list is still friggin pathetic IMO.

[rexallllsc]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

bleh - I am so put off by the way Microsoft has marketed this, I don't even care to buy one now.

How have they marketed it? I'm out of the loop.

[Deattribution]

There's really not a single game that defines the 360 as must have yet, and that's sad considering it came out in November... Since November, they've released like what? 3 games that aren't apart of the Xbox Live Arcade stuff?

[ISiddiqui]

Well Oblivion comes out in less than 2 weeks, so that could be the 'killer game'.

[Deattribution]

It's still not system defining though, just for the fact that it's multi platform, I'd personally rather (and will) play it on PC than Xbox if only for user modification.

Then again, I guess they figure like it matters - they can't even keep the systems on the shelves with a poor game selection anyway so its not like launching with a new Halo would have helped them sell more systems.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by kentontrace

I've had my 360 since the 1st of the year. Its a great system - the only thing that is really lacking is games. If sony is smart - not only will they have plenty of systems ready for launch but have a wider game selection also.

And by the time that happens, it won't be much of a competitive advantage among people who are seriously choosing between one or the other.

The folks waiting specifically for a PS3, though - it'll solidify their decision.

[stevew]

Are there any sales figures out yet? I would assume, dispite the hype, that the PS2 is still selling well, probably much better than the XBox360. If Sony continues to make high selling ps2 titles, it almost makes no sense for them to quickly push to the PS3, especially when they'd be taking a sizeable hit on it. Now if sales are weak, its a totally different ballgame.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well Oblivion comes out in less than 2 weeks, so that could be the 'killer game'.

no love for the stuff I've been working on...

[kentontrace]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well Oblivion comes out in less than 2 weeks, so that could be the 'killer game'.

agreed this is the Reason I bought a 360. I have problems staying focused on PC games - unless they are MMORPGs

I'm a nerd! lol

[Bee]

Originally Posted by kentontrace

agreed this is the Reason I bought a 360. I have problems staying focused on PC games - unless they are MMORPGs

I'm a nerd! lol

I'm curious why you would be able to stay focused to play Oblivion on the 360 but not the PC?

[kentontrace]

Originally Posted by Bee

I'm curious why you would be able to stay focused to play Oblivion on the 360 but not the PC?

I'm a console gamer - The only game that I've ever been 'addicted' to playing on PC is FFXI and that’s because I had other friends playing the game. I guess when I'm playing a game on my computer I would rather be interacting with other 'real' people. My roommate had the new Doom for his PC - it was a sweet game, but for some reason I couldn’t find myself really looking forward to playing it.

I've owned every system that has come out since Playstation (Dreamcast/PS2/Xbox/Xbox360/Gamecube) along with the first system I ever owned Sega Genesis - Its just personal preference - mainly because 80% of my games are sports games.

*edit*
One last thought on the PC Gaming...I sit here in front of a computer all day at work. I think this probably has something to do with me not wanting to look at a computer screen as a source of entertainment when it is my job to sit in front of the screen for 8 hours every day.

[Mustang]

There has been a severe lack of new games but, this month is changing that.

College Hoops 2k6
Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter
Oblivion
Burnout Revenge
Blazing Angels
Outfit

I could go broke...

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Ghost Recon - Advanced Warface

That's "Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter".

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

That's "Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter".

WTF... My mind must have scrambled.

[dervack]

Originally Posted by Mustang

There has been a severe lack of new games but, this month is changing that.

College Hoops 2k6
Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter
Oblivion
Burnout Revenge
Blazing Angels
Outfit

I could go broke...

I already have one of those, seriously cosidering picking up two more of those, and then next month comes Tops Spin 2 and MLB 2K6.

[Raiders Army]

I want Rumble Roses XX.

[scarface132]

I called and went in to 15 places one day, walmart, bestbuy, gamestop, gamecrazy, circuit city etc... just so happened to go into a target and they were the only shop that had xbox 360's in stock and not just the core system. They had 4 xbox 360's, I got one and felt extremely fortunate. Gamestop is still trying to fill their initital waiting list, believe it or not.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Mustang

There has been a severe lack of new games but, this month is changing that.

College Hoops 2k6
Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter
Oblivion
Burnout Revenge
Blazing Angels
Outfit

I could go broke...

Mustang,

That's pretty par for the course on a new system launch. The majority of gaming dollars are spent during the second half of the year, so you tend to see one wave of games at launch, with the start of the second wave of games start cropping up after E3.

That said, that is a remarkably solid March/April for any new system launch. GRAW and Oblivion are both potential AAAA titles, and I know I can't wait to get my hands on Burnout. Blazing Angels and The Outfit look good, but I think those will end up being second-tier games (based on saturation of the genre, not quality of the title).

[SunDevil]

http://www.lowestdeal.com/xboxCAT.html

[SunDevil]

Thinking about buying one. With my PS2 dying for the second time in 4.5 years and opening it up and cleaning it out and getting it to work barely. Having talked to Sony about either paying $45 for them to send me a refurbished machine or paying $65 for them to repair my system even though they did it for free last time, and the whole SWG debacle, I am really turned off by Sony right now, and I do not know if I will ever buy another Sony product. I do think the price for the Xbox 360 will go done a lot once the PS3 ships, just a matter if I am willing to wait that long.


... Ok venting is over.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

Thinking about buying one. With my PS2 dying for the second time in 4.5 years and opening it up and cleaning it out and getting it to work barely. Having talked to Sony about either paying $45 for them to send me a refurbished machine or paying $65 for them to repair my system even though they did it for free last time, and the whole SWG debacle, I am really turned off by Sony right now, and I do not know if I will ever buy another Sony product. I do think the price for the Xbox 360 will go done a lot once the PS3 ships, just a matter if I am willing to wait that long.


... Ok venting is over.

This almost made me start a new thread, but it's not really a big enough question for me to start a whole new thread....

For PS2 owners, how many systems have you had since it came out? Meaning, I guess, how many have crapped out on you?

I think I have only had the one I have now. The thing is pretty old, not too good with DVDs sometimes, but still works fine.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Cringer

This almost made me start a new thread, but it's not really a big enough question for me to start a whole new thread....

For PS2 owners, how many systems have you had since it came out? Meaning, I guess, how many have crapped out on you?

I think I have only had the one I have now. The thing is pretty old, not too good with DVDs sometimes, but still works fine.

I still have the original one I bought on release and it works fine.


Edit: Just a note, I've never had a console crap out on me. I currently have an XBOX, GameCube and a PS2, which all work fine (although I don't play them often). I have a Dreamcast that I hooked up a couple months ago to see if it worked and it was fine. Also, my old Genesis system is at my mother's house and still hooked up in a spare bedroom and working fine.

[Kodos]

I haven't made a concerted effort to find one, but I always stop by the video game sections at Target, Best Buy, etc., and I have still never seen an Xbox 360 for sale.

As for the PS2, I'm on my second one, but that was only a year or two ago that I had to replace my launch PS2.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Cringer

This almost made me start a new thread, but it's not really a big enough question for me to start a whole new thread....

For PS2 owners, how many systems have you had since it came out? Meaning, I guess, how many have crapped out on you?

I think I have only had the one I have now. The thing is pretty old, not too good with DVDs sometimes, but still works fine.

I'm on my second PS2. My first one died a year after it came out. This one we've had since then, and it is still working very well with a rare freeze-up.

[SackAttack]

My first PS2 crapped out on me, but so did my first Xbox.

My first Genesis and Sega CD also died, but that was human error: my brother switched the AC adaptors while moving it to another TV (the adaptors would fit interchangeably, oddly, but they had different voltage requirements IIRC).

Other than that...never had a console problem.

[KevinNU7]

Originally Posted by Cringer

This almost made me start a new thread, but it's not really a big enough question for me to start a whole new thread....

For PS2 owners, how many systems have you had since it came out? Meaning, I guess, how many have crapped out on you?

I think I have only had the one I have now. The thing is pretty old, not too good with DVDs sometimes, but still works fine.

I have my original still but I wait a year of it being on the market before getting one. Works great

[rexallllsc]

The more time that goes by the less I feel the urge to buy.

Hell, I'm probably just going to break out GTA:SA on ps2 again.

I was really hyped to buy this thing around the holidays, but what, 4 or 5 months later and they still can't roll this thing out?

Can you say BOTCHED RELEASE?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by rexallllsc

The more time that goes by the less I feel the urge to buy.

Hell, I'm probably just going to break out GTA:SA on ps2 again.

I was really hyped to buy this thing around the holidays, but what, 4 or 5 months later and they still can't roll this thing out?

Can you say BOTCHED RELEASE?

rex, it wasn't any different when the PS2 came out. It was maybe June of 2001 before I saw them consistently in stores, and even as late as August '01, when I started working at Best Buy, they were still very scarce through that holiday season.

That said, I attribute current supply issues to:

1) they launched nigh-simultaneously in three territories, meaning they couldn't fulfill as much of the demand in any one territory as they might have been able to do otherwise.

1a) They're still launching in minor territories.

2) Domestic demand is still high, and it's cutting across demographics. I fully expected that most of the people asking for premiums would be either well-heeled individuals, or 20-something gamers willing to make the sacrifice.

That hasn't been the case. Virtually every customer I've talked to about the 360 has preferred to wait for a premium rather than buy a core immediately (with literally one exception). My area is more affluent than others (read: Compton, this ain't), but there's a strata even here...and it hasn't mattered.

3) It's spring. Game developers typically save their best games for the second half of the year. There have been a few high profile titles released and/or slated to release this month, but they aren't going to do anything to drive system sales that the current level of demand isn't already doing.

In other words, they can afford to resupply at the current pace, and siphon off the extra units to build up a supply for the Christmas season, when demand will again be high, and the game selection will be much more diverse. Additionally, having supply at a time when one and possibly two competitors will be rolling out their new products, in addition to having a stronger library, could help them gain that foothold they're going for in market share this generation.

I'm not saying there aren't things they couldn't have done for this launch much better than they have done, but I don't think the supply issues directly translate into a "botched release."

The defective 360's reported by some early adopters, and the hue and cry over 360 performance issues following the March update, I think pose greater potential problems than tight supply, for one reason: people unhappy with supply are unhappy because they can't spend their money.

People unhappy with the performance of what they paid for are a different PR beast entirely, and PR is going to be a big weapon in the console wars arsenal this generation.

Now, what percentage of the unhappy folks got lemons and what percentage of the unhappy folks ARE lemons, we may (or may not) have a difference of opinion there.

[stevew]

With them taking a pretty decent loss on each console I almost wonder if they aren't "rationing" them out for now, and as their prices drop on production over 6 months, then suddenly they will produce more.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

and the hue and cry over 360 performance issues following the March update

Hadn't heard this "hue and cry" yet.

[Eaglesfan27]

I haven't had any performance problems even after the March update.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Hadn't heard this "hue and cry" yet.

http://forums.xbox.com/2758064/ShowPost.aspx

25 page thread about it. I've heard it in other places, but that's the most concentrated location.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I haven't had any performance problems even after the March update.

Nor have I, thankfully. But the squeaky wheel getting the grease, the people who ARE having problems are far more likely to be heard than those who aren't. We saw that on the evening news when the dude in Chicago filed his class action lawsuit. Bad news is a sexier sell than good news.

Therefore, that problem combined with this problem is, IMO, a larger problem for Microsoft than tight supply, regardless of the actual scope of the hardware malfunctions.