Seems the Xbox 360 sold out in the US before it was even launched. Ars Technica reports on the aftermath:
The shortage is very real, and it has plenty of people angry and frustrated. At one of two Circuit City stores that I visited, there were two separate lines, one for people who had shown up before the store even opened and were given "vouchers," and another for the voucher-less people hoping that someone backed out of the deal. I got in the second line to gauge people's hopes and expectations. The result? The overwhelming majority of people in line were actually people who had pre-ordered units from other stores, most notably Gamestop and Electronics Boutique. One individual, Dennis, had two pre-orders, and was still in the (hopeless) line. Why? It's a common story: Dennis got a call from his pre-order stores. "Sorry," they said, "but we cannot fill your order, and will not be able to do so until after Christmas." Dennis claims that he placed both of his orders in July.
Visiting Best Buy, I thought I'd survey the damage. In short, the Saugus Best Buy north of Boston looks like a bomb went off. You can see where the chaos went down last night. There's accessory racks that look like they were hit by one of those "grab as much as you can in 60 seconds" shopping cart gimmicks. The Xbox 360s were, of course, long gone. There were plenty of parents at Best Buy, a notable contrast to Circuit City, which was younger in orientation. The parents were leaving the store with sad looks on their faces. This is because one employee actually said that they do not expect to receive another major shipment of Xbox 360s until February of 2006.
Under the circumstances, there doesn't seem much point in advertising it, but another ad has turned up. at AdJab. As with the previous efforts, this need not cost Microsoft anything in airtime: viral circulation is going to take it to the target audience.
