Xbox 360 is in stock, not

RIOTS and underpricing and crashes, oh my! Now this is a whole lot of hoopla. But did Microsoft plan the entire thing in some sort of "we don't want to make THAT much money" conspiracy?

There are those who claim that their Magic 8 Ball showed a triangle with the word 'yes' on it, when they asked whether Microsoft caballed this world-wide shortage. That would mean, of course, that they're not interested in getting as many Xbox 360s out there as possible, in order to cock block the PS3 before it's even released. It would also mean that they actually wanted to send disappointed consumers home empty-handed last week, even some who had pre-ordered their consoles. That couldn't be good PR, could it?

Some other people suggest that such a plan on Microsoft's part would be laughable at best. Then again, people always desire the unattainable. Good things become rare, because others horde them or use them up, so rare things must be good. That psychological phenomenon could make the new console more popular in the slightly longer run. And it remains to be explained what all these rumors about orders to put up conspicuous 'SOLD OUT' signs might imply.

I, for one, don't buy the conspiracy theory. Microsoft lowered the price below production cost, to sell more units. Why would they, then, choose not to sell them? Furthermore, they rushed the entire process to make sure they got the Xbox 360 out before the PS3. It's only to be expected that there aren't as many as Xboxes out there as everybody wants; the plan was to get started selling as soon as feasible. An inherent part of that includes taking place before they've manufactured enough Xboxes to saturate the market.

Hype can be good, but sour grapes can be worse. There's nothing like a little cognitive dissonance to throw off the best laid conspiracies. µ