OK, so Microsoft are releasing their Great White Hope of the gaming world, the Xbox 360 , onto the UK population on 2.12.05. This is only a couple of weeks after our cousins from across the pond get their gaming mitts on the US Xbox 360 . In fact, Microsoft are planning a near simultaneous global release of the Xbox 360. Around the world in under 3 weeks is the kind of form that makes our own Phileas Fogg look positively bone idle.

No one has tried this before, and with good reason. The logistics of trying to launch an eagerly anticipated product as the Xbox 360 to a global market in pretty much the same time frame is daunting to say the least. What it should guarantee at the very least, is that anyone out there with a spare Boeing 747 freight plane can expect to be fully booked up for those 3 weeks. What it means to us, the consumer, is less appealing. Demand is almost certainly to outstrip supply, which means festive season discounts are going to be rarer then hens teeth, and that the best way not to be disappointed is to pre-order the Xbox 360. Most of the large retailers are taking orders already and there are scores of websites, like www.microsoftxbox360.co.uk , that are promoting Xbox 360 sales as affiliates of the larger retailers. Microsoft themselves are admitting there is going to be tears for some,"We are going to have some disappointment with retailers and consumers" J Allard, Xbox .

Whilst Im not trying to sex up the probability of shortages of the Xbox 360, if you want to be one of the first to own this new generation gaming system, and you havent already pre-ordered, then youd better hurry.