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Bill Gates Crashes the Xbox 360 Launch Party
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Xbox 360,
When the almighty Billy G arrived to greet the hundreds (and hundreds) of camped out fans, the media went crazy and almost trampled the poor guy. Still, he was able to shake hands with and talk to the first man in line, Dan Friedman, a 26-year-old gamer from Bellevue who happens to be a Microsoft programmer. He had been in line since Friday at 5 p.m. Gates hooked Dan up with $1,000 to spend on the console and accessories. He also spent time with the first 30 people in line, on the inside of the store where it was warm.
So, being the crazy cats that we are, we decided to forgo the Zero Hour launch event. I know, crazy talk, right? The thing is, Bill Gates decided to make an appearance at the Best Buy located near Gear Live Media headquarters, and we thought it would be cool to camp out with all the other fanatics. Of course, later on when we nearly died of hypothermia, we questioned our sanity. Luckily, some people built fires in the Best Buy parking lot, and others had retro game consoles and televisions hooked up to car batteries as a way to pass the time. These guys were hardcore. Check out more pictures of the Bellevue, WA Xbox 360 Campout and launch after the jump.
Click to continue reading Camping Out For The Xbox 360
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The things some would do for an Xbox 360 at launch…currently it is below 40 degrees, right about freezing, and there are about 120 hardcore gamers standing in line at the Bellevue, WA Best Buy location - the one where Bill Gates will be making an appearance to kick off the launch of the Xbox 360 here on the West Coast. My body is numb, and I forgot my blanket. Luckily, tons of people brought spares, and I got the hook up. Still though. So. Cold. Pictures to come later after I defrost my camera.
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What We Will Be Testing The Xbox 360 On…
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Video Games,
Okay, so the Xbox 360 is set to launch in less than 24 hours. We are getting ready to head out and wait in line at the Best Buy in Bellevue, WA - yeah, the one where Bill Gates will be on hand to kick off the launch. This will be the first time that I haven’t pre-ordered a console, opting instead to try my luck on launch day. The result is me having to brave the cold for a good 24 hours.
For those wondering, we have a full-featured testing lab for Xbox 360 launch. The high definition display in our lab is a Samsung 46” HLP-4663 DLP unit. As for sound, we went overkill with a 7.1 surround sound JBL system, powered by a Yamaha 7.1 HTR-5890 receiver. We are certainly ready to roll, and would have been bringing impressions to you by now had Microsoft gotten our Xbox 360 review unit and debug kit to us in time. Alas, no dice there.
The next generation in gaming begins very, very soon.
Our High Definition, Surround Sound Testing Uber-Setup
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Xbox 360,
Okay, so the Xbox 360 is set to launch in less than 24 hours. We are getting ready to head out and wait in line at the Best Buy in Bellevue, WA - yeah, the one where Bill Gates will be on hand to kick off the launch. This will be the first time that I haven’t pre-ordered a console, opting instead to try my luck on launch day. The result is me having to brave the cold for a good 24 hours.
For those wondering, we have a full-featured testing lab for Xbox 360 launch. The high definition display in our lab is a Samsung 46” HLP-4663 DLP unit. As for sound, we went overkill with a 7.1 surround sound JBL system, powered by a Yamaha 7.1 HTR-5890 receiver. We are certainly ready to roll, and would have been bringing impressions to you by now had Microsoft gotten our Xbox 360 review unit and debug kit to us in time. Alas, no dice there.
The next generation in gaming begins very, very soon.
So, Gear Live reader gstill over on our message board is wondering what the best cell phones out there are right now. We figured we would throw this one out to you guys. What do you feel is hot out there? Furthermore, what should he stay away from? If you can help him out, give him a reply in this thread.
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| Gear Live Forums
Who The Hell Is Buying All The 360 Faceplates?!?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Xbox 360,
Now this I just don’t get. While perusing the aisles at our local Target,Gamestop, and Electronic Boutique, it has become apparent that people are just simply Xbox 360 fiends. The reason we have come to this conclusion is simple - the $20 USD faceplates are selling like crazy. We were sure that these things would be a hard sell due to the fact that all they do is change the look of the front of the console, and that fact alone meant that it should maybe sell for half of its set retail price.
Looks like we were wrong. People are willing to drop good money on making their console silver, or brown camouflage. Amazing.
Peter Moore is an clearly trying to pull a fast one on us. Seriously, trying to blame the Xbox 360 shortages on overeager retailers taking too many preorders is ridiculous. But here’s the quote:
‘It’s difficult,’ Moore said. ‘A lot of retailers, I think, stretched their allocation. Individual retail store managers said, ‘I’m going to take a fly that I’m going to get 200 Xbox 360s on day one and take the preorders accordingly,’ and they only got 100 or 150. Well that’s 100 or 50 disappointed people. We have to manage that.’
So are the retailers to blame for taking unlimited pre-orders before they knew what their allocations would be like? Sure, but that’s their job. On the other hand, an argument can be made that Microsoft knew that demand would be high, and chose to spread themselves too thin anyway. Pre-order numbers were coming in early enough that Microsoft knew there weren’t going to be enough to go around. People were pre-ordering back in July. Yet, Microsoft has kept production steady in order to ensure brisk sales throughout Q4.
Of course, there’s the other answer. The more time that passes, the cheaper the hardware will be to produce. Why make five million consoles that you have to take a $75 bath on now, when you can stretch that out over several months and reduce the cost on the consoles released later? I also take issue with the “... and they only got 100 or 150” comment. The only stores that got that many were either Microsoft’s “launch partners”, or were in California or New York.
Occasionally, “One Day, One Deal” site Woot goes all out for a few days in what they’ve glamorously termed a “Woot Off.” (Embrace wholly the vague, sexual undertones.) Their products range from brand name coffee machines to other brand name 52” televisions to MP3 players and other oddities, but they’re almost always gadget-minded. (Or at least, delightfully quirky, along with their product descriptions.) During their Woot Off, Woot cycles through a single item at a time. As each item sells out, they move on to the next item. Everything they sell is shipped (and handled) for just $5.00, and when you go ahead and check your favorite shop-and-compare site, you’ll find Woot’s usually got quite the deal going on. Take a few looks over the next couple of days and buy yourself an early Christmas present. If you don’t like what you see now, try again in another hour or so—things move quickly!
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