Friday, Dec 9, 2005
Captains Log, stardate 09122005
The night before: I checked out bestbuy.ca to confirm the rumors, that yes, there would be a small 'relaunch' of the Xbox 360 here in Canada for all Best Buy stores on the 9th, with a minimum 10 consoles at each location. I thought to myself, what are the chances that all the nerds in Langley/Cloverdale/Surrey would check this website? Hopefully I'll score a system by tommorow morning"
12:01am: I set the clock alarm to 7:30am, giving me time to shower, put work clothes on and kick it to the BB in Langley with an hour or so left before opening
7:20 am: Woke up before the alarm. Had to do my business.
7:51 am: Ready and set to go. Grabbed the receipt for the HDTV I bought there incase they try to rape me with one of their bundles
8:08 am: Arrive at the store, there's a lineup going about twelve deep. Not too bad, hopefully some of them came together.
8:10 am: Go and stand up against the wall. Some girls walk off and stand on the other side of the sliding doors (?). Okay. Weirdos.
8:52 am: Fast forward fourty of the most boring moments of my life, enter store manager. Yes, there are enough systems for everyone in line! Hurray!
8:55am: They open the doors five minutes early, since it's freezing out, and still night. Everyone speedwalks to the X360 section. Being near the end of the line, I'm worried all premium units will be taken before I get to it, leaving me with only the Core.
9:00am: After waiting for the first few soccermoms to get their systems, the next few ladies are simply reading the box to see what they like. Luckily, I see one premium on the shelf, and grab it. My god, this is the moment I've been waiting forever for. Finally, the Xbox 360 is in my hands!!!
9:02am: I walk away from the crowd. I start reading the side of the box for accesories, excited as hell. Wait. Something's wrong. Why can't I read the writing? The harder I try, the blurrier it gets.
7:30 am: Alarm goes off. Wake up........ ........... .................
FFFFFFFFFFFFFF*********************RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*******************K
What kind of loser am I now? I dreamt it! I must've taken a nap after doing my business.
8:15 am: Leave house, head to Best Buy in Langley
8:25 am: Get there, only a couple in line, yes!
8:26 am: Park my car. Wait, f***, why are there twelve year olds sleeping in that Accord across me?
8:27am: Walk up to store doors, felt heart go through ass. "All Xbox 360's accounted for
" sign assily taped to the window
8:28 am: Goes to car, punches steering wheel.
8:35 am: Drives to work both sleepy and pissed off.
8:50 am: I notice the clock. Still time for some Mcdonalds breakfast. Get's two bacon'n'eggers. Feel's a tad better.
9:01 am: Starts work for the day.
*Yeah, I flipped between first, second, third and nineth person point of view there, sue me*
The night before: I checked out bestbuy.ca to confirm the rumors, that yes, there would be a small 'relaunch' of the Xbox 360 here in Canada for all Best Buy stores on the 9th, with a minimum 10 consoles at each location. I thought to myself, what are the chances that all the nerds in Langley/Cloverdale/Surrey would check this website? Hopefully I'll score a system by tommorow morning"
12:01am: I set the clock alarm to 7:30am, giving me time to shower, put work clothes on and kick it to the BB in Langley with an hour or so left before opening
7:20 am: Woke up before the alarm. Had to do my business.
7:51 am: Ready and set to go. Grabbed the receipt for the HDTV I bought there incase they try to rape me with one of their bundles
8:08 am: Arrive at the store, there's a lineup going about twelve deep. Not too bad, hopefully some of them came together.
8:10 am: Go and stand up against the wall. Some girls walk off and stand on the other side of the sliding doors (?). Okay. Weirdos.
8:52 am: Fast forward fourty of the most boring moments of my life, enter store manager. Yes, there are enough systems for everyone in line! Hurray!
8:55am: They open the doors five minutes early, since it's freezing out, and still night. Everyone speedwalks to the X360 section. Being near the end of the line, I'm worried all premium units will be taken before I get to it, leaving me with only the Core.
9:00am: After waiting for the first few soccermoms to get their systems, the next few ladies are simply reading the box to see what they like. Luckily, I see one premium on the shelf, and grab it. My god, this is the moment I've been waiting forever for. Finally, the Xbox 360 is in my hands!!!
9:02am: I walk away from the crowd. I start reading the side of the box for accesories, excited as hell. Wait. Something's wrong. Why can't I read the writing? The harder I try, the blurrier it gets.
7:30 am: Alarm goes off. Wake up........ ........... .................
FFFFFFFFFFFFFF*********************RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*******************K
What kind of loser am I now? I dreamt it! I must've taken a nap after doing my business.
8:15 am: Leave house, head to Best Buy in Langley
8:25 am: Get there, only a couple in line, yes!
8:26 am: Park my car. Wait, f***, why are there twelve year olds sleeping in that Accord across me?
8:27am: Walk up to store doors, felt heart go through ass. "All Xbox 360's accounted for
" sign assily taped to the window8:28 am: Goes to car, punches steering wheel.
8:35 am: Drives to work both sleepy and pissed off.
8:50 am: I notice the clock. Still time for some Mcdonalds breakfast. Get's two bacon'n'eggers. Feel's a tad better.
9:01 am: Starts work for the day.
*Yeah, I flipped between first, second, third and nineth person point of view there, sue me*
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Posted Dec 9, 2005 7:02 pm PT
No man. I'd never hear the end of it if my buddies heard I did that. They don't even know of the time I spend on this place or videogames. Plus I work six days a week, so it'd be a no go, especially on a Saturday night (I get Sundays off)
Posted Dec 9, 2005 11:50 pm PT
Pfft, and I thought this story was going to have a happy ending. Crap, I'm disappointed. Well, better luck next time. Chances are good that "next time" will probably be in 2006. Yikes.
Posted Dec 10, 2005 12:57 am PT
Sorry about that Minda, I can't even tell you how many people started showing up right before the store opened, only to see 28 of us sleepy cranky maniacs who had spent the night in the cold ready to tear their heads off. The best advice I can give is to wake up super early next time, be there by 5AM at the latest, we actually had a couple of guys show up at 4:30 AM on launch night and they were the last ones to get one. By the way, I hate dreams where I get something I really want....the disapointment stays with you all day. Better luck next time 
Posted Dec 10, 2005 8:07 am PT
I can understand launch days, you know, it's expected. But this was simply a minor shipment they were releasing to the public, and the only advertising (that I was aware of) was the small little text on the X360 spot on Bestbuy.ca. I didn't think people would camp out so soon for a non-launch day.
Don't these kids have school, anyway?
Don't these kids have school, anyway?
Posted Dec 10, 2005 10:32 am PT
School ? that's so 1980 ...
Posted Dec 10, 2005 3:55 pm PT
Sooo... Did you dream having bought a HDTV too or did you actually do that? And if so, which model did you get?
Posted Dec 11, 2005 2:27 pm PT
Nah, no dream for the HDTV. I decided to go with the 26" Panny. It does 480p and 1080i, so I'm happy. It's perfect size, imo. Movies look great, even if they aren't in progressive scan (xbox). Quite a few people grabbed the same model in the states cause they were on sale, and majority of the response is positive, except a common problem of overscan in a couple games (PGR3 and PD:Z)
Posted Dec 11, 2005 11:45 pm PT
Best of luck getting your system, Minda.
I saw this coming, but I didn't expect it to be so bad. What really gets under my skin is that MS decided to release the system in Japan on time, despite what the analysts said (I can forgive that because most times analysts can't find their ass with both hands) but given the four year history of the original Xbox (only half a million sold in Japan over a span of four years). And now that it's launched there, reports are surfacing that (shock!) the Japanese aren't buying the new Xbox. Imagine that. I don't have a problem with them not buying it. They can do whatever they want - let them buy Game Boy Micros for all I care. But MS should be getting these systems into the hands of the people who WANT ONE.
In my opinion, Japan should be relegated to low-priority status. They haven't stood by the system before, and I don't think they will now. MS is being foolish releasing perfectly good systems in a territory where they will sit on the shelf, while letting the territories who DO want them go without.
I saw this coming, but I didn't expect it to be so bad. What really gets under my skin is that MS decided to release the system in Japan on time, despite what the analysts said (I can forgive that because most times analysts can't find their ass with both hands) but given the four year history of the original Xbox (only half a million sold in Japan over a span of four years). And now that it's launched there, reports are surfacing that (shock!) the Japanese aren't buying the new Xbox. Imagine that. I don't have a problem with them not buying it. They can do whatever they want - let them buy Game Boy Micros for all I care. But MS should be getting these systems into the hands of the people who WANT ONE.
In my opinion, Japan should be relegated to low-priority status. They haven't stood by the system before, and I don't think they will now. MS is being foolish releasing perfectly good systems in a territory where they will sit on the shelf, while letting the territories who DO want them go without.
Posted Dec 12, 2005 11:24 am PT
To Shame-us: Maybe you could all import your Xbox360's eh? 
Posted Dec 12, 2005 1:33 pm PT
^^Nah. I have a friend who knows someone that works at EA Canada who can get me an Xbox 360 real quick, but I'm reluctant because I do want a warranty. I checked with EB when I updated my phone number, and they said I'm 10th on the list, which is way down from the 23 I was at a couple weeks ago. I'm hoping I'll get one before the end of the week, if not, I'll grab the one from EA I guess.
Posted Dec 12, 2005 7:43 pm PT
I'm sorry Minda....but that was some funny sh!t right there. You had me laughin' like a madman, my neighbors probably think I'm insane right now.
Speaking of the warranty. I was just about to fill mine out when I read in a small box down to the left, "Complete and mail within 10 days". 10 DAYS?! That is friggin lame, I'm sorry. You go out and spend $400+ on this damn system, and they give you a measly 10 days to send them another 59 dollars for a friggin 2 year warranty?
I'm going to send the damn thing anyway and see what happens, thats just so cheap on MS's part. They should at least give you a month, which is what I thought it was.
Speaking of the warranty. I was just about to fill mine out when I read in a small box down to the left, "Complete and mail within 10 days". 10 DAYS?! That is friggin lame, I'm sorry. You go out and spend $400+ on this damn system, and they give you a measly 10 days to send them another 59 dollars for a friggin 2 year warranty?
I'm going to send the damn thing anyway and see what happens, thats just so cheap on MS's part. They should at least give you a month, which is what I thought it was.
Posted Dec 13, 2005 6:30 am PT
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