With the officially out in North America today (in but a matter of hours, now), the gaming public will finally be rushing in their droves to get their hands on the first next-generation system out the door. The launch is also likely to reveal quite how many of the machines did manage to deliver to retailers, with stock shortage reports sparking rumours of conspiracy. The more suspicious commentators in our fair had been reporting that Microsoft might be trying to generate interest and excitement by engineering supply problems, creating the impression that the new console was wildly popular. Of course, most of us just assumed that the pressures of the worldwide launch (Europe will follow on December 2nd, on December 10th) were affecting Redmond's ability to deliver sufficient quantities of the machine on time, the firm then simply trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

Microsoft's boss further scotched the 'conspiracy theories' today, stating categorically that the firm is attempting to deliver as many units as possible to retailers in-time for launch. Speaking to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Moore stated "Somewhere in Roswell, New Mexico, we have a hangar where were stockpiling it, creating false shortages. No.... It's ridiculous. We are trying to get as many units to as we possibly can."

The boss did however add that many gamers would be disappointed come launch day, in part because many retailers had over-estimated the stocks they would be receiving, meaning that even some gamers who pre-ordered would be disappointed. Moore has previously joked that the firm would have to hire as many 747s as possible to meet demand for launch, and this will probably prove true, the Xbox 360 being the world's largest consumer product launch - and a first for the games industry.

"When the dust settles, it will be proven to be the right thing, and it will become the default way that you launch a videogame console in our industry," Moore concluded. Confident words. Zero hour approaches...

By Luke Guttridge