MS on 360 allocation rumours
Is the UK really only getting 50k?
Xbox UK boss Neil Thompson has admitted that it might not be too easy to get your hands on an Xbox 360 this Christmas - but promises that Microsoft is doing all it can to get the consoles into shops as soon as possible.
"Xbox 360 is the hottest gift this Christmas and will be hard to find - but we’re working hard to ensure there’s a regular replenishment of stock to retail," Thompson said.
Microsoft offered no comment on rumours that the US will be getting precisely 1,098,200 units on launch day, which emerged after a forum poster on Team Xbox claimed he had received a copy of a booklet sent out to shareholders.
The poster claimed the booklet also revealed that Microsoft hopes to sell four million Xbox 360s in the five months following launch, and that 29 games for the console will be in the shops by the end of the year.
And the rumour mongering doesn't stop there - word is that the UK will be getting a paltry 50,000 Xbox 360 units in time for the console's launch on December 2.
That's according to the Official Xbox Magazine website, which claims it got the information from "a representative from one of the UK's largest videogames retailers."
Don't think that pre-ordering will help, either - "We started taking pre-orders for Xbox 360 back at the start of summer, and by the end of June one store already had 300,” the source is quoted as saying.
"Customers can still put their names down for an Xbox 360, but we can’t guarantee that they’ll get their system before Christmas.”
Microsoft declined to comment on the 50k rumour. With regard to pre-orders, Thompson stated: "Microsoft does not have an official Xbox 360 presale program and we are unable to verify the status of these retailer programs."