300,000 Xbox 360s for European launch

Microsoft will have about 300,000 of its new Xbox 360s available for its European and UK launch on 2 December, a Microsoft executive said in an interview published on Sunday.

Industry analysts' estimates of 300,000 Xbox 360s available at launch "were not far removed from reality", said Chris Lewis, the Microsoft executive responsible for the Xbox in Europe, in German weekly financial newspaper Euro am Sonntag.

Xbox 360s sold out in many US stores after the launch there on 22 November and are still in short supply, with the console selling at a premium to its $400 retail price on Internet auction sites.

Lewis said it was possible the console, which will cost £210 for the basic 'core' package and £280 for the premium version in the UK, would sell out at its European launch too.

The console is the first new non-handheld machine in four years from a major manufacturer, and Microsoft aims to deliver as many as 3 million units within three months of launch.

Rivals Sony and Nintendo aim to release new consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Revolution respectively, in 2006.

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