GameShark | Features | Prophet's Xbox 360 Blog

Tuesday, November 22nd

Late Nights and Longing:

Just for fun I drove around to our local WAL-Marts, the Best Buy and EB Games and GameStop. There were actually people camping out at most of these stores waiting for a 360 at 1 AM, despite some pretty cold and wet conditions here in the North East. Best Buy was sold out in a matter of minutes and WAL-Mart's stocks were so small that they were whisked away by customers almost as fast as they were dropped off by the shipping trucks. Don't despair if you didn't get one on launch day - the advantage to not owning one right away is that you learn which games and extras are not worth wasting money on. Speaking of which you Madden fans better read some reviews before you rush out and buy the 360 version - it looks like the content has been cut...

The Hype:

I watched G4's launch of the 360 for a few hours last night and while I do share in the excitement of the new system launch I thought their presentation was a bit over the top. Maybe I'm just not geeky enough to understand where they are coming from.

Out and Out:

The Xbox 360 is out and the traditional retail outlets (EB Games, GameStop, Best Buy) in my area are all sold out. My friends all over the country are reporting difficult times in find 360's as well. Perhaps this is due to how many retail units were shipped out across North America - Best Buy (Microsoft's retail partner) and Microsoft are being very coy about the number of units that were actually shipped, so no one really knows at this point - and obviously some attention was focused on creating units for European and Japanese launches of the system in early December.. My advice to readers? Look in places where people don't shop for game systems like Sears, JC Penney, etc.. Good luck!

Final List of Launch Titles:

Peter Jackson's King Kong

Quake 4

Ridge Racer 6

Perfect Dark Zero

Call of Duty 2

Amped 3

NHL 2K6

NBA 2K6

NBA Live 06

Madden NFL 06

FIFA Soccer 06

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006

Gun

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

Project Gotham Racing 3

Monday, November 21st:

Microsoft Email Blasts:

Microsoft has dispatched a few nifty links for those of you itching for information on the Xbox 360:

Midnight Madness:

It will be interesting to see how much hype will surround the Xbox 360 - will consumers line up outside stores at Midnight or some other ungodly hour to get the system? Will it be sold out quickly? Signs point to yes but we're not sure . One thing is for sure - some retailers have ridiculously small stocks of the system - for example, our local Wal-Mart has ten systems and will be open at Midnight tonight to sell them. That's pretty silly if you consider that there are more than ten people in my town that want one and have the cash. What's more interesting is whether or not they'll get more units before X-Mas. For my brothers and sisters in the area let's hope so... and for the record - Best Buy, EB Games and GameStop are opening early (Best Buy will open an hour earlier than usual, while the other two large retailers will open at midnight and sell systems to pre-order customers).

Xbox 360 Larceny:

Let the chaos begin - according to a GameSpot report, a Stafford, Virginia EB Games was the scene of an armed robbery that saw two Xbox 360's stolen - handed over by a fearful store manager at gunpoint. Luckily no one was harmed in the robbery and both systems were recovered. Is the demand already that high for the system or is this an isolated incident of stupidity? I'd say the latter but i'll let you know my opinion later this week after the "official launch." Demand is definitely high and supply is low in a lot of areas across the United States. Stay tuned.

Ground Zero:

Sunday saw a lucky few attend the beginning of Microsoft's launch event for the Xbox 360, and though things seemed relatively tame according to attendees there were lots of flashy highlights, playable games and other exciting moments for fans. But it's better to have a first-hand experience with the system to truly enjoy it. Luckily retailers like Best Buy have had the system and a handful of games available for hands-on play for the last week. Needless to say, games like Call of Duty 2, GUN and the latest Tony Hawk title are worthy of wasting a couple of hours on. There's some great games for the Xbox 360 that are going to excite a lot of gamers. Put this bad boy on your Christmas list and pray your loved ones can score it...

Mad Catz' Launch Goodies:

Be sure to check out our news section for the latest Xbox 360 news this week. We'll soon be launching our Xbox 360 channel. On a more personal note, Mad Catz has a tone of new accessories ready to go for your 360 that will make your gaming experience even more fun and comfortable - you can read all about that right here !

Going undercover just doesn't fly once you've raced the open streets of Los Angeles. We get one final look at the latest spin on the series before it ships later this month.