We downed our drinks and made our way back inside to discover that the rumors were true and lines of people sitting on marshmallow chairs were already starting to snake their way through the demo areas awaiting the arrival of the 360s. Becky and I quickly grabbed our own set of marshmallows and found a spot at what would end up being about the mid-point of the very long line that night.
Working in shifts, we took turns getting food and watching other gamers play the release games. While I didn't get a chance to play them first hand, I was able to watch two players that are better than I will ever be take on "Perfect Dark Zero" and "Quake 4." I also got a chance to see a full demo of the previously mentioned Media Center functionality and some demos on the backwards compatibility of the Premium units with the biggest game of the year, "Halo 2."
Done with watching other people play, I found Becky, who had found another friend of ours, and settled in for the remainder of the wait. At about 8:00 PM, the band, Louis XIV, whose connection to the event was providing the soundtrack for some of the EA Sports games, played a full set of music for the awaiting gamers.
When Louis XIV finished its set, the scary clown reappeared and at 8:54 (360 seconds before launch), the countdown to Zero Hour started. At about the same time, the doors to the hanger opened again and three trucks from Best Buy rolled into the event, stopping by the cash registers and opening their doors to reveal floor to ceiling Xbox 360 consoles, which some of the Best Buy team held above their heads like they were bringing the cure for polio to the children of the world.
At the stroke of 9:00 PM, which was coordinated with the midnight release of the boxes on the east coast, the first of the many in attendance that night received their Xbox 360 units from the truck. The pictures that were taken of me with the two units I walked out with that night didn't come out clear, but they were nothing compared to the shots shown of these first recipients of this next generation gaming consoles… trust me when I say, people in war-torn countries receiving food rations don't look this excited.
For the rest of us, the line to get our little boxes of joy moved quite quickly and Becky and I eventually left the checkout queues proudly displaying what would become a scarce commodity in the days ahead. By this point, members of the press really weren't interested in you unless you came from out of state or from another country for the event, which was fine by us as we were exhausted and ready to make our way home. After one more long line that eventually sped up after the final lax in security that released us all out into the desert night, we worked our way out of the parking lot and back to the world of mortals.
By the next morning, the stories were already hitting the news about how quickly the Xbox 360 units were already sold out and how units on eBay were now going for over $2,000. As I finish this article, I'm already starting to see stories of rumors of forced scarcity on the part of Microsoft to create frenzy around the release and even complaints on some of the gaming boards of hardware issues with the units that actually made it out of the box after the release.
My two Xbox units (as you can imagine, Becky had little interest in actually owning one) now sit under my Christmas tree as I decide their fate. Will they both be put up for auction, or will I keep one as a memento of the night I gave in to my gamer tendencies? While I may never reach the level of hard core gamer that I saw over those two days in the desert, I emerged from my time there with a newfound appreciation for this area of entertainment. However, I'm still not giving in on the whole layered shirt thing… I'm sorry; it just looks goofy on me.
By day, Jeff Ferguson is part of the marketing team at LowerMyBills.com, but by night, he is the owner/operator of The Gag, an online novelty and magic store.
