The Hunt For The Xbox 360
Yesterday morning, I awoke earlier then normal. 6am to be in fact. I was on a hunt today, for video game supremacy, a system like no other seen before. More powerful, faster, and well newer. Microsoft released the Xbox 360 yesterday in limited quantities.
First stop Target on Lawndale. They open at 8. I arrived to a pretty short line. Two friends were already there and waiting. People were there at 6 am, and they gave out vouchers for the 32 systems they had. 16 core systems and 16 premium systems. I was SOL unless they had a no show. One of my two friends I saw in line paid a man $100 to get his voucher to be able to buy a core system. After the frenzy cleared, we left for destination number two.
Toys R Us, a long lost toy franchise that most people don't realize is still on High Point Rd. Pretty good line, found out they did pre-sales. Wish I would have known. Empty handed again, of for spot three.
Best Buy on Stanley Rd. There was no line, they chaos had already occurred. I have been running into the same line dwellers at every stop. They got 50 systems and had a line of over 200 the night before. Fat chance here. One lady apparently pulled out $1000 in cash and bought one off a lucky buyer. Not bad, $600 profit for waiting in line. He can buy two when they get more in. I had other shopping to do here though. Seinfeld Gift Box for seasons 5 and 6, complete with puffy shirt replica. That's what I was getting, along with War of the Worlds.
One more stop to make, Circuit City. No luck here either. Again, I had other motives. The new System of a Down record "Hypnotize", which came with a free System of a Down T-shirt.
The hunt actually started the night before with a call to the 24 hour Wal-Mart(employers of illegal immigrants and pure evil). They have 43 systems in and 43 people in line at 7 pm the night before.
My buddy who was along for the ride said, "This is like waiting in line for concert tickets." What I observed was the one day revolution that Microsoft had created. People of all walks of life, skipping work to buy a video game console. That's priceless.
There is a bidding frenzy at E-bay with the average price twice that of a store bought system.
Microsoft has created a craze. There is a shortage of systems and a lot of buyers out there. My advice: If you don't have enough gum for the whole class, then don't bring any at all. Microsoft has no idea when more systems are coming. One insider at Target said, "They will ship us more consoles when we sell all of the accessories we have in stock." If that's the case, it's plain wrong. They should have waited until they had enough systems to go around to launch, and if they have enough and are holding back, then I might just wait for the Playstation 3 due in 2006.
All in all, I enjoyed the experience, the hunt. I didn't get the kill, but the early morning conversation with complete strangers was well worth it. Bill Gates, you are a sly bastard.
First stop Target on Lawndale. They open at 8. I arrived to a pretty short line. Two friends were already there and waiting. People were there at 6 am, and they gave out vouchers for the 32 systems they had. 16 core systems and 16 premium systems. I was SOL unless they had a no show. One of my two friends I saw in line paid a man $100 to get his voucher to be able to buy a core system. After the frenzy cleared, we left for destination number two.
Toys R Us, a long lost toy franchise that most people don't realize is still on High Point Rd. Pretty good line, found out they did pre-sales. Wish I would have known. Empty handed again, of for spot three.
Best Buy on Stanley Rd. There was no line, they chaos had already occurred. I have been running into the same line dwellers at every stop. They got 50 systems and had a line of over 200 the night before. Fat chance here. One lady apparently pulled out $1000 in cash and bought one off a lucky buyer. Not bad, $600 profit for waiting in line. He can buy two when they get more in. I had other shopping to do here though. Seinfeld Gift Box for seasons 5 and 6, complete with puffy shirt replica. That's what I was getting, along with War of the Worlds.
One more stop to make, Circuit City. No luck here either. Again, I had other motives. The new System of a Down record "Hypnotize", which came with a free System of a Down T-shirt.
The hunt actually started the night before with a call to the 24 hour Wal-Mart(employers of illegal immigrants and pure evil). They have 43 systems in and 43 people in line at 7 pm the night before.
My buddy who was along for the ride said, "This is like waiting in line for concert tickets." What I observed was the one day revolution that Microsoft had created. People of all walks of life, skipping work to buy a video game console. That's priceless.
There is a bidding frenzy at E-bay with the average price twice that of a store bought system.
Microsoft has created a craze. There is a shortage of systems and a lot of buyers out there. My advice: If you don't have enough gum for the whole class, then don't bring any at all. Microsoft has no idea when more systems are coming. One insider at Target said, "They will ship us more consoles when we sell all of the accessories we have in stock." If that's the case, it's plain wrong. They should have waited until they had enough systems to go around to launch, and if they have enough and are holding back, then I might just wait for the Playstation 3 due in 2006.
All in all, I enjoyed the experience, the hunt. I didn't get the kill, but the early morning conversation with complete strangers was well worth it. Bill Gates, you are a sly bastard.
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