Something going on with XBox 360's?

[AtomSmasher]

I finally decided to buy an XBox 360 and I've noticed that every store is sold out of the Pro/Premium and Elite models.  The only way to buy it is to buy it online, which seems odd for a consoles thats been out for a few years.  I was wondering if anyones heard any rumors that Microsoft will be releasing a new version or a new bundled games or something?

I've checked Bestbuy, Circuit City, walmart, Sams Club, Target, Gamestop, Toys R US, and K-Mart and every single one is sold out and some even have it listed as back ordered for online orders.  Something has to be going on, so I'm wondering if I should wait to see what it is or if I should just buy one of the remaining holiday bundles (comes with Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance for free) from an online store?  And it's not hdmi outputs because most of the remaining holiday bundles have the hdmi ports.  http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7934351

[Samstag]

There's the usual speculation but nothing useful.  It's not a new bundle, since they just throw the games in the old box and put a sticker on it.  Even when they switched to HDMI they didn't clear out inventory ahead of time.  Last summer I had the same problem.  Nobody in my area had any in stock until I finally got lucky and found an Elite.  Nobody at any of the stores I went to had any idea why they were cleaned out.

[somunny]

All the new hardware seems to be in short supply right now.  360's, Wii's and DS's are all very hard to find.  PS3's are the exception.  Plenty of those on the shelves.

[AtomSmasher]

Very odd.  Since it seems to be business as usual, I guess I'll go ahead and order one.

[SirPoonga]

Around here the Elite and the PS3 80 are no where to be found.  I heard the holiday sales for systems were really good.  So maybe they are in a catch up mode.  Though the rumor for the PS3 is the 80gig model is being discontinued and a new 120gig model with the DS3 controller is coming out.

[SithMaster]

Around here the Elite and the PS3 80 are no where to be found.  I heard the holiday sales for systems were really good.  So maybe they are in a catch up mode.  Though the rumor for the PS3 is the 80gig model is being discontinued and a new 120gig model with the DS3 controller is coming out.

Wait when did the DS2 comeout?  And why would sony use a competitor's product?

[somunny]

Around here the Elite and the PS3 80 are no where to be found.  I heard the holiday sales for systems were really good.  So maybe they are in a catch up mode.  Though the rumor for the PS3 is the 80gig model is being discontinued and a new 120gig model with the DS3 controller is coming out.

Wait when did the DS2 comeout?  And why would sony use a competitor's product?

DS = Dual Shock

[AtomSmasher]

Around here the Elite and the PS3 80 are no where to be found.  I heard the holiday sales for systems were really good.  So maybe they are in a catch up mode.  Though the rumor for the PS3 is the 80gig model is being discontinued and a new 120gig model with the DS3 controller is coming out.

Wait when did the DS2 comeout?  And why would sony use a competitor's product?

DS = Dual Shock

Does that mean theres going to be rumble in their controllers again?  The PS2 had the DS2, so I assumed the PS3's controller already was the DS3.

[SithMaster]

Around here the Elite and the PS3 80 are no where to be found.  I heard the holiday sales for systems were really good.  So maybe they are in a catch up mode.  Though the rumor for the PS3 is the 80gig model is being discontinued and a new 120gig model with the DS3 controller is coming out.

Wait when did the DS2 comeout?  And why would sony use a competitor's product?

DS = Dual Shock

That might be a possibility.   

I thought they got rid of the rumble.

[AtomSmasher]

Also, I ordered a 360 from walmart earlier and got to use the $10 gift card they sent me for the whole Smash Bros. Brawl fiasco which paid for the shipping.  I plan on picking up Rock Band as my first game  After that I have some catching up to do on some great games that I missed like Gears of War, Assasins Creed, and Dead Rising

[Daniel B.]

 The DS3 has been out in japan about 6 months. People have been importing them for $70 a pop. No word on when they will come standard.


If I may make one suggestion, give assassins creed a rent before you buy. It gets pretty boring, but some people really like it.

[shmokes]

Does that mean theres going to be rumble in their controllers again?  The PS2 had the DS2, so I assumed the PS3's controller already was the DS3.

Once upon a time . . .

The PS3 controller was called SixAxis (referring to the accelerometer tacked onto it after the Wii was unveiled.  They couldn't very well name it DualShock seeing as the name DualShock is a direct reference to the two rumbling motors inside a DualShock controller (compared to the single motor inside an N64 Rumble Pack). 

Anyway, the haptic feedback company Immersion sued Sony and Microsoft for patent infringement.  The technology those companies used for rumble was already patented (I guess Nintendo must do something else, cos they were never sued).  Microsoft settled the lawsuit for like $10 million, but part of the settlement also gave Microsoft a stake in the company so they're part-owner of Immersion now.  Sony, on the other hand, decided to fight it in court.  So the litigation with Immersion kept the technology out of the PS3 controllers.  The official company line was that the rumble motors would interfere with the SixAxis motion sensors, but the fact that the Wii remote had rumble showed this to be obvious ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---.  Everyone familiar with the issue knew that it was the patent infringement lawsuit that took rumble away.

However, Sony recently lost in court and had to pay Immersion $100 million in damages, and the court put an injunction on the sale of the PS2 (which still shipped with controllers containing Immersion technology).    Obviously this injunction was an untenable situation for Sony and they quickly bought a license from Immersion and pay them royalty fees on each unit sold for the technology inside. 

Now that the lawsuit was finished, and Sony was forced to kiss and make up with Immersion, and license their technology, in order to keep the PS2 on the market, it finally opened the door to get the rumble back into the PS3 controller.  Hence the DualShock 3 being released next month.  BTW, in case anyone was wondering, the DS3 retains all the SixAxis motion detecting capabilities.

The End.

[Samstag]

"We are really running short of product here in the United States," Jeff Bell, head of global marketing for Microsoft's games business, said in an interview. "You could say we misjudged demand."

So it's just a lot of people buying them right now.  Maybe everyone is spending IRS rebates in advance.

"We think this will have an impact on our sales," Bell said. "It may cause the overall industry number to be down a little bit."

That's a retarded thing to say.  Your "industry number" may be down for a couple of weeks, but your overall sales are apparently beyond your expectations, Jeff.  Ask someone with a business degree to explain it to you sometime.

[MameMaster!]

Microsoft has announced shortage issues:

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9133&Itemid=2

[AtomSmasher]

I'm glad I ordered when I did because the day after I ordered walmart changed it to "not sold online."  I actually got a little worried because even though I ordered it on Monday, it didn't ship until last night.

[hypernova]

for the whole Smash Bros. Brawl fiasco

Wasn't really a fiasco...that was just a tommy thing.

360s have been unavailable for a time now, since before the holidays, as someone alluded to earlier.  Except, as the article stated, 360 Arcades are usually able to be found.

I've been told that Toys R Us have been getting shipments of around 30-40 Wiis at least weekly lately, (sometimes bi-weekly) and they're still selling out before the afternoon, frequently earlier.  (People are still forming lines at 5 am.)  The demand of those things is phenomenal.  We're trying to snag one for work in anticipation of Brawl.  But we're not trying very hard.  They'll reimburse me if I find one, but I'm not trying at all.   I've been looking for ads in the Sundays...but as I recollect, there's only been one ad the last three or so weeks.

[AtomSmasher]

Woohoo, I just picked up Rock Band at Sam's Club for $149.  I've been watching their supply for a while and all they've had for the past month or so is ps2 and ps3 versions, so I was quite surprised to find that today they had the xbox 360 version in stock.  Now I just have to wait for the 360 to get here...this is going to be a long weekend looking at the box and not being able to play