Xbox 360 U.S. Sales Estimated As EU Launch Looms

Speaking to USA Today, American Technology Research analyst P.J. McNealy has estimated that 300,000 to 400,000 Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in the U.S. to date, following the continued scarcity of the console after its November 22 launch in North America. At the same time, the Xbox 360 is gearing up for its European launch, due for tomorrow, December 2, and Microsoft's European Xbox boss Chris Lewis has recently described as "not far removed from reality” analyst estimates of 300,000 Xbox 360 consoles for the format’s initial European launch this Friday. However, anecdotal reports from the UK and elsewhere indicate that European stocks will be as equally difficult to find as the U.S. launch, with all available pre-orders long sold out, and even those supermarket locations that might sell without a pre-order citing reduced numbers of consoles. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced the European launch line-up for Xbox 360, which includes the following titles: Amped 3 (2K Sports), Call of Duty 2 (Activision), Condemned: Criminal Origins (Sega), FIFA Soccer 06 (EA), Gun (Activision), Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft), Madden NFL 06 (EA), NBA Live 06 (EA), Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA), Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft), Peter Jackson's King Kong (Ubisoft), Project Gotham Racing 3 (Microsoft), Quake 4 (Activision), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (EA), and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (Activision). The Xbox 360 hardware itself costs UKP279.99 ($484) for the standard Xbox 360 pack, including hard drive, wireless controller, headset, and TV remote, and UKP209.99 ($364) for the base 'Core' model, which lacks the hard drive and includes a wired controller. Games for the Xbox 360 will retail in the UK at around UKP49.99 ($87).