Crowds grab Xboxes

Some stood in line all night for the video-game system; latecomers get to play a waiting game

Triangle shoppers such as Kelly Kamm guaranteed Tuesday that Bill Gates will have a stocking full of cash this Christmas. Kamm was the first to walk out of the Cary Best Buy with one of the new video-game consoles that Microsoft began selling nationwide Tuesday. He started waiting at 10 p.m. Monday, about No. 40 in line. "I was very lucky to get one," said Kamm, a 25-year-old software developer from Cary. "It justified standing out in the mess all evening."

The Xbox 360 arrived after months of hype fueled eager anticipation among video-game fans. Shoppers across the country lined up overnight for the chance to spend as much as $750 on the machine, accessories and games.

Stores around the Triangle and the nation quickly sold out. By limiting supply, marketing like mad and beating rivals Sony and Nintendo to store shelves with the next generation of video-game systems, Microsoft and its founder Gates created one of the biggest must-have hits of the holiday shopping season.

Pam Hewitt, Sue Triesh and Mary Rollins will have to wait to buy theirs.

The women waited at the Best Buy in Cary for two hours but failed to snag Xboxes for their children. All of the 50-odd systems were spoken for through a voucher system the Cary store instituted the night before.

As they lined up, the three women traded war stories about other retail queues, going back to the PlayStation2 video-game console and the 1980s Teddy Ruxpin toy.

Hewitt, the executive director of the children's ministry at Colonial Baptist Church, isn't giving up her hunt. She wants to buy an Xbox for her 24-year-old son in Minneapolis.

Hewitt drove to five other retailers to try to get one, but no luck. She'll be on the lookout until she finds one.

"This is one of the things I do for my son," she said. "Devoted mom, love, you know."

Steven Kay, co-owner of the newly opened Hackerz, a video-game parlor in Wake Forest, waited in line overnight at the Wake Forest Target. When the doors opened at 8 a.m., the 16 systems were gone in 20 minutes, he said. He managed to get two.

The story was much the same at other retailers around the Triangle.

Target at North Hills in Raleigh sold its 20 Xboxes within 15 minutes of the store's opening, said spokeswoman Lesley Herring.

Circuit City on Creedmoor Road in Raleigh wasn't any different.

At 10 a.m., manager Billy Nielsen was greeted with cheers and a sheet of names prepared by the crowd listing the order of the line. His 20 Xboxes were gone within the hour.

A preprinted sign that read "Xbox 360 Temporarily Sold Out" greeted latecomers. The sign could be there for a while. Nielsen doesn't know when he'll get his next shipment.

Ditto for George Dirscherl, Best Buy's district manager. He said he didn't know when his Triangle stores would get more.

Nationally, retailers are repeating the same story, with Amazon.com and Wal-Mart shrugging their shoulders like everyone else.

It's a safe bet that Microsoft is making more. Officials have predicted the company would sell 3 million systems worldwide within three months.

The Xbox 360 features high-definition graphics and wireless controllers. It also has more online support than the previous version, and some have an onboard hard drive.

The retail price for the consoles is $399.99, but a slimmed-down version without a detachable hard drive and wireless controller sells in stores for $299.99. Extras and games quickly bulk up the final bill.

On the online auction site eBay Tuesday, some fully loaded Xbox 360 packages were selling for as much as $2,500.

While most retailers and economists expect a slower holiday shopping season than last year because of higher energy prices and other factors, electronic gizmos are expected to sell well.

Still, not everyone understood the hubbub Tuesday.

At the Cary Best Buy, almost all of morning crowd was there for the Xbox 360. Others were baffled.

Todd Johnson of Holly Springs was stunned by the scene.

"I just came here to get the new Stones album," he said.