J Allard expecting some launch day hardships

Looks like he (and maybe the rest of Microsoft?) isn't too sure that they'll be able to meet demand in every territory they plan on launching in. It's all pretty much a crap shoot I'd say. Not matter how many angles you analyze, how can you predict the size of the public's need ffor your product? I'm glad I don't have that job.

 

We're not discussing numbers yet. I think no matter how big the number becomes, it still won't satisfy the demand. We're going to sell every one we can make. The allocation issue is a discussion; it's a dialogue with the retailers, and it's not just by territory, it's also by country, and so at an event like this we can actually get some feedback from the retailers in terms of 'my country's going to be more ready when FIFA: Road to the World Cup comes out, and that's going to be the killer app for my country', for example, so we can adjust our allocations.

We decided we're going to take a little bit of heat on allocations, frankly, in all the territories rather than take a lot of heat in one or two territories. So, we're not saying Europe comes four months later, we're saying Europe comes now, but with that combining it with the physics properties of the silicon means we're going to have some disappointment in terms of what we can provide to retail and ultimately to the consumers this year, but that's okay, because we want to get the market started. We want to get started on a worldwide basis, we want to do the right thing for gamers, for our publishers and for consumers.