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360 Degrees Around the Horizon: No Xboxes in Sight
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If you were extremely lucky last Tuesday, you were able to get your hands on something proving to be more elusive than the fabled "Golden Tickets": an Xbox 360. LAist scoured the Southland in search of one, but we were met with closed doors, shaking heads, and empty packing crates at every turn. It was like Cabbage Patch Kids, all over again. Although we don't think people were robbed at gunpoint for Cabbage Patch Kids. Maybe for the accessories, though.
LAist sent a lone scout to the Best Buy in Hawthorne on Monday night at 6pm, six hours before the Xbox 360 was due to hit shelves at midnight. Our scout faithfully reported that there were over 425 people in line, four news crews, and no chance in hell that we'd be scoring one there. That was our best bet! We'd heard it through the video game grapevine that the store in question was getting over 130 of the systems. Elementary math prevailed, and our scout headed home.
We then woke up at the crack of dawn, bleary eyed, confused, and sporting tremendous bedhead. A trip to Best Buy on La Brea, Target on La Brea, Best Buy in Glendale, and Toys R Us in Glendale yielded a big empty bag of nada. No gaming love for LAist was to be had that day.
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We ended up with some other hardcore fans at a Sears in the far reaches of Glendale, where we were #6 (6!) in line for the boxes at that store. However, they didn't receive their shipment (and still haven't), but we now hold a voucher for the 6th Xbox 360 that they receive.
We'll be sorely tempted to sell it on eBay, where the little suckers are selling for more than twice their value, and in some cases up to $1800. Someone is trying to ensure that junior has a big Christmas, or else people have just gone insane. We know that it'll be too hard to resist ripping that box open and gaming away, so come on over once we have it and we'll challenge you to a game.
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