360's no longer being distributed to stores?

I ran into the same problem looking to buy one in my area. Went to 15 stores in two cities and didn't find one Pro. Ended up getting one on Amazon.

I think the actual reason for this is simple. They discontinued the "Holiday Bundle" that inclided Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I was able to get the bundle on Amazon, but they are not making those any more. They're finally restocking them in my area, and all of them are the regular "Go Pro" editions with no games included. I'm guessing they were most likely just waiting for the stores to sell out the bundles before shipping the new ones.

As far as them not making any because of the hardware problems, the Falcon chip is said to be more reliable, and claims have been made that the failure rate has droped from 30+% on the older consoles to less than 10% with consoles including the "falcon". While this may be true, we're talking about consoles that were manufactured in November, and have only been in use for 2 or 3 months tops, so it's impossible to say how much more reliable they are (or will be in the long run) at this point. Mine froze up in less than a week (no rings and no problems since, just a restart, but still...) so I'm not convinced.

Calling stores (unless you're calling an actual Gaming store) is usually more of a pain than just going in. Half the time the people in the departments don't know a damn thing about games and don't know a 360 from a DS, don't want to talk to you, don't want to help you, and if the stock isn't in direct view will just say they're sold out to get you off the phone. And asking them when the next shipment comes in? They never know... best they can do is tell you when they're getting another truck. They're not going to know what will be on that truck.

I worked in a department store for two years, I know how these people think.

Calling stores (unless you're calling an actual Gaming store) is usually more of a pain than just going in. Half the time the people in the departments don't know a damn thing about games and don't know a 360 from a DS, don't want to talk to you, don't want to help you, and if the stock isn't in direct view will just say they're sold out to get you off the phone. And asking them when the next shipment comes in? They never know... best they can do is tell you when they're getting another truck. They're not going to know what will be on that truck.

I worked in a department store for two years, I know how these people think.

decepticondevil

No, it's just a hiccup after christmas, they'll be restocked soon.PiNwOrM

What's unusual though is Microsoft is not selling more consoles than they did last year. I work at Best Buy and I remember that last year we had more Xbox 360s than ever. Over 80 consoles for our store alone with no shortage in site. Something is up. This is very unusual for Microsoft to do this.

Either they are stepping down production to quench the hard-ware failure problem by allowing themselves to step up production on a better design of the 360 so they can flood the market with it, or they are going to discontinue the console in general.

they are stepping down production to quench the hard-ware failure problem by allowing themselves to step up production on a better design of the 360 so they can flood the market with it,

FearTheRain

Very astute. This is what i believe, and hope is true.

Look at Amazon (or alot of other places), all the 360's listed say this in the Product Detail section: Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

They are clearing up the retail stock so that they can release new versions of the console.

Look at Amazon (or alot of other places), all the 360's listed say this in the Product Detail section: Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

They are clearing up the retail stock so that they can release new versions of the console.

Hulabaloza

Very nice find. :)

Elite: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-360-Elite-System-Bundle/dp/B000WNXYLM/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1203255211&sr=8-6

Arcade: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Core-Arcade-Bundle/dp/B000WENLBY/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1203255211&sr=8-4

Pro: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Console-20GB-Drive/dp/B000UQAUWW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1203255211&sr=8-2

All three versions of the Xbox 360 are labeled as "Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes" on http://www.amazon.com/

Calling stores (unless you're calling an actual Gaming store) is usually more of a pain than just going in. Half the time the people in the departments don't know a damn thing about games and don't know a 360 from a DS, don't want to talk to you, don't want to help you, and if the stock isn't in direct view will just say they're sold out to get you off the phone. And asking them when the next shipment comes in? They never know... best they can do is tell you when they're getting another truck. They're not going to know what will be on that truck.

I worked in a department store for two years, I know how these people think.

decepticondevil

So true. I don't call anymore as a result.

I've also noticed that the 360 faceplates are getting increasingly difficult to find and most are being clearanced. I was wondering about the supply issue of 360s and it appears that a new model is being released.

I can't help but think that the recent events regarding HD-DVD have a lot to do with it as well. I wonder what Microsoft will be putting out next...

I've also noticed that the 360 faceplates are getting increasingly difficult to find and most are being clearanced. I was wondering about the supply issue of 360s and it appears that a new model is being released.

I can't help but think that the recent events regarding HD-DVD have a lot to do with it as well. I wonder what Microsoft will be putting out next...

Legendary_Ross