gaming system creating waves is nothing new, what with Nintendo changing the lives of enthusiastic little boys since the 1970s. However, when thousands of gamers spend a chilly night in the open waiting for the release of a gaming system, you get up and take notice.

That's exactly the story of Microsoft's Xbox 360. At the �Zero Hour' launch party of the product, more than 3,500 gamers descended at California's Mojave Desert resort well in advance. The rest, not surprisingly, is history. Xbox 360 was the most coveted gift this Christmas, but not many wishes were fulfilled. Even those who had pre-ordered the product, launched on November 22, had to wait at least three months to get their hands on it. In the launch month alone, Microsoft sold more than 326,000 units. Microsoft has already shipped 600,000 to 700,000 units to the US, according to analyst PJ McNealy of American Technology Research. However, this is still quite short of the demand of 1.5-1.8 million units by the end of 2005.... more